


We Can Be Heroes!

by RayPalmersNanites



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Adventure, Character Development, Drama, Gen, Humor, Lots and lots of weird aliens, Music Provided in Links, Outer Space, Space Pirates, Steven Universe AU, Under Construction..., long chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-25
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-26 16:49:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7582066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RayPalmersNanites/pseuds/RayPalmersNanites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in an AU diverging from Same Old World, instead of choosing to stay, Lapis leaves Earth after having a nasty reaction to Peridot's presence at the barn. After talking things out with Steven, she sets out for the farthest corner of outer space where she can carve out a new life free from Homeworld. But despite her wishes to live peacefully, a crew of renegade gems-turned space pirates and their eccentric leader are aiming to make that as hard as possible...</p><p>(Under construction, but UNCANCELLED)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Walk Away

(Note: To enhance the experience, I'm going to post links to songs that I feel fit the moment. Some will be from Steven Universe, some won't. Either way, I hope you guys enjoy it!)

**(Song: Steven Universe, The Hill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFQfOOwrigw)**

It had been the funnest night that Lapis Lazuli had experienced in her life. Not to say that it had much competition mind you, seeing how the past 5000 years or so had awful tragedies in store for the blue Gem every night. Whether it was being trapped inside of a mirror for a majority of her life, being set free and trying to desperately flee the planet she was trapped on with a broken gem, being captured and tortured by the ones that she were supposed to be safe around, or having to imprison herself in a fusion with a sadistic thug for months on end to protect the only one she cared about... saying that Lapis wasn't a stranger to bad nights (and days, for that matter) would certainly be underselling it.

But yet, this was a genuinely fun night indeed. After being freed from Malachite, Lapis had been dead set on leaving Earth. The lush blue planet had caused her nothing but grief and misery, and it didn't help that it was home to the so-called heroes known as the Crystal Gems who allowed her to remain imprisoned inside that mirror. But yet, where could she go? When she tried to return to Homeworld last time, she was captured, interrogated, and tortured under suspicion of being a Crystal Gem spy. And if she showed up without Jasper and Peridot in tow... she didn't even want to think about the punishment they'd inflict on her. So while she wracked her brains on what to do, she spent the day hanging out with Steven, who she carried as they flew across the countryside and briefly visited the locations known as Empire City and Jersey. But it was late at night, and she still didn't really have an answer as to if she wanted to stay on Earth, or fly off to some obscure corner of space or something. If she stayed on Earth, she had to remain on the same planet with the Crystal Gems, who would likely try to hunt her down and shatter her for escaping the mirror. But if she flew off to space, all bets were off. She'd have to flap around the infinite collective of stars, planets, asteroids, and other such things and hope that Homeworld wouldn't catch her. The mighty empire was always efficient at colonizing planets, and after being stuck in that mirror for 5000 years, god only knew how far it spanned now...

However, there was one big plus to staying on Earth. She'd be able to regularly visit the one person she could ever trust: Steven Universe! A peculiar boy who seemed to be half-Gem, half-human, she had met Steven about a year or so ago when one of the Crystal Gems by the name of Pearl entrusted him with Lapis' mirror. And unlike all the people who callously used the mirror without wondering about who could have been inside, Steven actually talked to her! Using a limited amount of communication, she successfully befriended him to the point to where he was willing to defy his superior's orders and freed her from the mirror, and even fixed her cracked Gem with his healing powers! Ever since that day she's looked out for him, and done all she could to keep him safe: warning him of a Homeworld attack, lying to Jasper and Peridot about his abilities, and even trapping herself under the ocean... it was sad because the two usually only got to meet under awful circumstances.

But now? The two were flying high above the sky, with Steven clinging to her back while she soared above the clouds. Now, they both truly got to hang out together, with no strings attached. For once, they got to have fun. But yet, Lapis still felt an odd clenching feeling deep inside her core. That deep uncertainty that even while playing around with Steven, she still wasn't quite free as long as she was still on that planet...

**(Silence)**

"For a moment," Lapis stated sadly as she flapped her wings, "I really felt like things were different. But they're not. No matter where I go, I'm trapped."

"But you're not!" Steven cut in, the concern heavy in his voice, "You're not underwater, you're not in a mirror! This time, you're free!"

"But I'm still on Earth!" Lapis protested, but Steven wasn't having any of that.

"Yeah, but nothing is still on Earth! Everything's always changing: leaves, cities, even Jersey changes! My dad says the rest stops used to be pretty gross, but now they have sushi!" He then chuckled slightly before continuing, "This isn't the same world that held you prisoner! Not anymore, and I know it doesn't feel like home, but maybe that can change too!"

'Change, huh...' Lapis glanced away, but smiled as she did so. She may not have had any earthly idea what rest stops, sushi, or even dads were, but she could tell where Steven was coming from. 5000 years after her imprisonment, the Earth had changed exponentially. What she had initially seen as a dull, primitive planet was now a beautiful, diverse landscape with pretty cities of lights, forests that shifted colors when seasons would pass, and rough yet oddly likable industrial cities of smog and hatred. And who knows? If the world changed that much over time, maybe all those changes included one that could let a Lapis Lazuli live a quiet life away from strife and discord...

The starry sky was now shifting from deep blue to pinkish-purple, with the stars themselves fading from view one by one as the duo approached the barn Steven and the Crystal Gems had been staying at. Lapis touched down, and let Steven drop back onto the ground.

**(Song: Steven Universe, Rose's Fountain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNcXFlcBJy4)**

"I know you can't go back to Homeworld, but if you stay here, it'll be your choice to stay here." Steven promised. He then reached into his pants pocket and placed something in Lapis' hand. It was a leaf, specifically a dry, brittle, yellowed leaf from the forest the pair visited during their trip together. Lapis held it up to her face and studied it, memories of the beautiful forest and it's seasonal color-changing leaves flooded back. It was rather small, and even a little insignificant, but it was oddly amusing that she never took notice until now.

"It's funny, for all this time I spent on Earth, I barely saw any of it!"

"That's not funny!" Steven cut in, "That's super sad."

 _'Always the empathetic one, aren't you Steven?'_  Lapis giggled internally. She took a long glance at the horizon, and watched the sun creep into the sky. A new dawn was approaching, not just for the planet, but for an indecisive Gem looking to start a new life. One where she could live in the countryside, away from the Crystal Gems and away from Homeworld, but at the same time, would always be available to hang out and play with a boy who shared her love for fart noises...

"I... I wanna see it."

"Yeah?!" Steven asked, with an ever-growing smile on his face.

"I wanna stay here!" Lapis stated with confidence, also with a rare smile on her face.

"Here?! Like,  _here_  here?!"

"Yeah!" Lapis responded cheerfully, " _Here_  here!"

(Silence)

 "Yes! Hear hear, everybody!"

 _'No... Oh NO.'_  Lapis thought,  _'Don't tell me that I just heard who I thought I just heard!'_

"Uh, what are we talking about?"

**(Song: Steven Universe, Little Peridot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se4bChbLKPQ)**

It was exactly who Lapis thought, alright. After being interrogated for information about the Earth by her, how could Lapis mistake the high, nasally voice for anyone but Peridot? Just the very sight of the tiny green Gem rounding the corner of the barn and approaching the duo caused every bit of happiness and goodwill she had built up the previous night to come rushing out of her, like helium from a deflating balloon. She seemed to be lacking her limb enhancers for whatever reason, but Lapis was too infuriated to care.

"YOU?!"

"Lazuli, nice to see you up and about!" Peridot replied casually, as if she was greeting an office buddy during a coffee break as opposed to addressing a Gem she had previously hurt and locked up.

"What are  _you_  doing here?!" Lapis angrily demanded. And it wasn't a question that was devoid of merit, either. She was an enemy of the Crystal Gems, so what was she doing on their territory? And why wasn't Steven attacking her?!

"This is my home away from Homeworld!" Peridot stated confidently.

"No it's not! It's mine! Right, Steven?!" She turned to the small boy for affirmation, with high hopes that he'd stand by her side and shoo the little gremlin off the premises. But for whatever reason, he wasn't saying anything. He was just awkwardly glancing at the ground and twiddling his thumbs.

"Uh... oh boy." Steven sighed and swallowed before looking up at Lapis. "Uh, Lapis? I'm uh... well... oh man, I totally screwed up..."

"Screwed up how?" Lapis asked, her voice partly filled with anger, partly with dread.

"Well uh... I totally forgot to let you know that, uh... that we were letting Peridot stay at the barn, too..."

That was exactly the last thing Lapis needed to hear. "Wh-WHAT?! WHY?!" She didn't want to yell at Steven, but she couldn't help it: her emotions were bubbling up hotter than lava from a volcano.

"Lapis, please!" Steven protested, "I know it looks bad-"

"Well of course it does, SHE'S THE ENEMY! Sent straight from Homeworld to hurt you! Why in the world would you let someone like her stay here?!"

"Hey, just cool it down for a second, Lazuli!" Peridot cut in, a goofy smile on her face as she raised a hand in what Lapis assumed was supposed to be a calming gesture, "To quote Amethyst,  _chillax!_ I'm not aligned with Homeworld anymore, so just calm down!"

"No, I'm NOT going to calm down! I'm not giving up the barn to someone like you!" Lapis spat. Peridot then frowned, her casual cheerfulness replaced with annoyance.

"Oh, don't be such a whiner, Lazuli!" Peridot protested, "I was here first, so I get the barn! That's completely fair!"

"NO IT'S NOT!" Lapis screamed back, "You don't deserve it!"

"Guys, GUYS!" Steven cut in desperately. He stood in the middle of both Gems in an attempt to keep a potential fight from breaking out, which he fully expected given Lapis' intense body language. "Come on, you guys don't have to fight over the barn! Can't you just share it?!" Lapis looked less than amused, but Peridot lightened up considerably.

"Share the barn... of course! I like the cut of your Gem, Steven Quartz!" Peridot grinned with a smug look on her face as she playfully elbowed Steven's arm. She strolled up to Lapis and did the same to her, this time doing it multiple times as opposed to once with Steven. "So what do you think about that, Lazuli? Neither of us have to miss out on a nice, comfy abode far from civilization! We can live together out in the countryside, just the two of us! We can watch the sun rise, binge watch the Camp Pining Hearts DVD's I've stockpiled, discuss our preferred pairings once we're through... come on! How can you say no to being Barn Mates, eh?"

"Oh I can, Peridot." Lapis responded coldly. Peridot stopped nudging her arm, and Lapis could see a tiny little frown on her face when she did so. "Because I don't really want to be "Barn-Mates" with someone who USED AND ABUSED ME!"

"Lapis!" Steven desperately scolded, "Come on! Just wait, and-" But Lapis wasn't having any of it. In a literal flash of light, watery wings sprouted from the gem on her back. Without a word and a scowl on her face, she flew off into the sky and soared away, making her way to the trees, absolutely furious with this recent development...

  **______________________**

"LAPIS! Lapis, don't go! Come on, Lapis!" But it was too late: Lapis made it perfectly clear that she wasn't coming back, and just kept soaring further and further away, until she was a small blue speck on the horizon. He noted that she was flying past the distant train tracks and heading in the direction where the forest they flew through was...

"AGH! That dumb, ruddy, doltish... CLOD!" Peridot spat. She was hopping up and down, all flustered and peeved, while her triangular hair was all bristly as if she was an angry cat. "Seriously, what's her problem?! I was being NICE! I was offering to split the barn, I made it clear that I'm on your side... what more could she want?!

Steven's only response was to sigh while he glanced down at the ground. Peridot wasn't the only one disappointed by the outcome of these events: he thought Lapis was happy! He thought that after their trip through the Tri-State area, he'd be able to help her move past the rather nasty conga-line of trauma she had experienced! But it was as clear as the sunny sky that Lapis still had a lot of issues that needed resolving: some with the Crystal Gems, others with the Earth itself, and even some with...

"Peridot," Steven sighed, "Look, I know you mean well. You wanna see her happy, so do I! But... she's been through a lot."

"So?!" Peridot snapped, "That doesn't give her an excuse to act so rude to me!"

"Yeah, I know," Steven sighed again, "But... well, you DID keep her captive on the hand ship. And she said something about using and abusing her, what did she mean by that?"

Peridot yelped in shock and stood there wide-eyed for a second. She then narrowed her eyes and did a little growl of annoyance. "Well... she uh... Hey, look, why're you jumping down my throat like this? Lazuli's the one being melodramatic! It wasn't like I WANTED to make her feel bad! I'm not going to disobey a Diamond's orders!" Her eyes then bulged when she realized that she was caught in a contradiction. "Well uh... I mean yeah, I helped you with neutralizing the Cluster and became a Crystal Gem, so I DID disobey a Diamond... GAH, that's not the point! Lazuli is being rude, and I demand an apology!"

"Whoa, Peridot! You shouldn't  _demand_  an apology! Just ask her nicely!" Steven corrected her, as it was a certainly important distinction to make. In most cases, it made all the difference in the world.

"Yes, but she was rude when I was nice to her!"

"Well, why not give it another shot?" Steven suggested, "She wasn't expecting to see you here, so you kinda caught her off guard! Now that she knows you're here, that element of surprise won't be as nasty for her!"

Peridot simply gave Steven a look of disbelief.

"Are you sure it's going to work?"

"Well... does it really hurt to try?" Peridot furrowed her brow at Steven's question, but ultimately came around.

"Hmm... sure. But what if she never comes back?"

"Well, we go after her!" Steven replied cheerfully as he pointed in the direction he saw his blue friend flee, "I saw her head over that way! There's a forest far over there that we visited yesterday! I bet she's in there! And if she isn't in there, she could be further ahead, like in Empire City! I sure hope she didn't fly to Jersey though..."

"Well, how are we supposed to get over there?" Peridot asked, "The Greg and the Crystal Gems took the only working car back to Beach City!"

"I'll just call them!" Steven cheerfully announced. He whipped out his cellphone... only to see that it wouldn't turn on. "Oh yeah, the battery's dead." He sighed, not liking the only other option he had left. "Well, that means we're gonna have to walk!

"Wait, walk?! How far out are we walking, exactly?"

"Well uh... if we powerwalk and don't stop for any breaks, I think we'll get to where she could be in about... 4 hours? Maybe 5? And if she isn't in the forest, then that'd take a lot longer." He chuckled kind of sheepishly when Peridot blew up.

"Wha- but that'll take forever! I don't want to walk for that long!"

"Well, we're just gonna have to deal with it!" Steven shrugged.

"No, no! There has to be an easier way to go about this! How about that large pink feline that hangs around... Leon, I think he's called?"

"His name's Lion," Steven corrected, "And I'd ride him if I could... but I haven't seen him since the day before yesterday!"

"So he's lost then." Peridot sighed.

"No! He just kinda wanders off to do his own Liony thing. It's what he does!" With that being said though, Steven did wish that he knew what exactly the fluffy pink enigma of a big cat was getting up to during his solo adventures. It was something he resolved to ask him some day... if he remembered to do so. And his memory would prove to be shorter-term than he thought when he heard Peridot cry out excitedly.

"Oh! OH! Steven, there he is! He's right over there!"

Steven turned around and saw Peridot pointing over to the old silo. And as she had said, Lion was right in front of it, curled up in a ball and napping like the lazy cat he was.

"Aw, Lion!" Steven scolded playfully, "Where've you been all this time, you little goofball?!" He and Peridot ran up to the slumbering feline, who took notice of their approach and groggily rose up on all fours. He took a second to stretch and yawn heavily, and fell back into position once they reached him.

"Hey, buddy!" Steven greeted, "Do you think you could do your pals Steven and Peridot a favor? Hmm?" Lion just blankly stared at him. It was to be expected, since he _is_  a lion. "You see, we need help looking for a friend of ours. It's Lapis, you've seen her before! You know, that pretty blue Gem who took the ocean that time?" Lion seemed to understand, maybe. It was at least how Steven interpreted a subtle twitch in his left ear. "Anyway, she's feeling pretty upset, and we want to talk things out with her. She ran off to this forest that's a few hours away from here, so could you make a portal to the woods for us?" Lion didn't really seem to pay attention, he was far more interested in a grasshopper he noticed leaping to and fro nearby. "Aw, come on, Lion!" Steven moaned before realizing a surefire way to make him listen. "Well then, I guess you don't want a Lion Licker!"

Lion's response was instantaneous, in a second he had turned right around and stared up at Steven's eyes, his own being wide with his pupils having dilated considerably. Steven couldn't help but smile as his motto was proven right: when all else fails, bribe him with ice cream! Rather cheap seventh rate ice cream, but ice cream none the less. "Yeah, now we're talking! You help us find Lapis, and I'll give you two of 'em when we get back! You got that?" Lion responded by chuffing and positioning himself in front of Steven and Peridot to where they could easily hop onto his back. Steven turned and bowed playfully. "After you, ma'am!"

"Why thank you, Steven!" Peridot thanked with a tiny cackle while she climbed on board, "It's always good to see someone who knows their place when traveling with the Great and Lovable Peridot!"

"Oh, you!" The pair shared a few laughs as Steven took his place on Lion's back. Both grabbed tightly onto his puffy pink mane while Lion turned his head to where Lapis had fled. With a mighty roar, a pink light shot out of his mouth and formed a portal in front of him.

"Alright Peri, hang on tight!" Steven laughed when Lion got in a pouncing position.

"That's what I'm do-IIIIIIIIING!" She thought she was ready, but Peridot was thrown for a loop when Lion lept forward into the portal. Their end closed, leaving them in a rather shiny, glimmery sort of "dimension" that Lion sped through on his way to a far-off portal, that glowed a faint pink and seemed to grow bigger and bigger as he approached. It was a matter of seconds until...

**(Song: Mario and Luigi Bowser's Inside Story, Dimble Woods: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vj8CZgDrsg)**

Lion made his arrival outside the other end of the portal, which dropped Steven and Peridot off inside of a rather peaceful, cheery looking forest. The sunlight was only able to shine faintly down through the thick layer of trees that provided a rather neat little canopy above, and their leaf colors ranged from green to orange to yellow to red, and even purple in some cases. All around them, the duo and their big cat could hear the calls of birds and the occasional chattering of nearby squirrels. It was nice and peaceful, but something more important was on their mind.

"LAPIS!" Steve called out as he and Peridot began to wander around where they were dropped off. Lion opted to simply fall over and curl up into a big sleepy ball while they called for the wayward Gem. "HEY LAPIS! LAPIS LAZULI! IT'S STEVEN, AND I WANNA TALK TO YOU!"

"St-Steven?" Lapis' rather soft, yet shaky voice could be heard calling from a nearby tree.

"Whoa, we found her already?! Lion, awesome job! That's gonna earn you a third Lion Licker back home!" Lion began to chuff once more, quite content with this turn of events. Satisfied, Steven turned his gaze up to where he heard Lapis' voice, and saw the Gem carefully flutter down from a tree and land on the leaf-covered ground.

"Oh, Steven!" She sounded briefly pleased, but the hint of a smile on her face vanished when she saw his little green accomplice. Steven was rather taken aback, it looked like Lapis aged a few years: her eyes looked so tired and he could have sworn that she took on a greyer tinge. "And you."

**(Silence)**

"Lazuli," Peridot sighed, putting in all the effort that she could to make her voice as kind as possible, "Look-"

"Save it for someone who cares." Lapis growled, cutting off the meek Gem before she could even start.

"But Lazuli, I-"

"I don't want to hear it! You should head back to that barn you love so much, because you're wasting your time here."

Steven turned and was sad to see just how dejected Peridot looked. She slumped over with the look of a kicked puppy on her face, and her triangular hair was drooping downward. He glared at Lapis, who in turn was glaring daggers at Peridot. As much as he loved his aquatic-minded friend, he also loved his angry little slice of pie. And whether it was justified or not, he was not going to sit idly by while Peri was being bullied.

"Lapis, will you stop it?!"

"Wh- Steven?!" Lapis was completely caught off guard: unlike her anger for Peridot, she was staring at Steven with a look of confused hurt and bewilderment.

"Look, I know you've had a rough time! And I know Peridot's done things to hurt you, but that's no reason to be so mean to her! She's trying to be nice to you, and you're not even giving her a chance!"

"W-well why should I?!" Lapis shot back, flustered and slightly irate, "She hurt me! She used me! She's not entitled to any kindness from me!"

"But Lapis, she's changed! Don't you remember our talk about change?" Steven asked, which caused Lapis to growl in frustration.

"That had nothing to do with her! The world has gone on and advanced over several thousand years! But her? She's the same Peridot who used me all those months ago!"

"But that's the whole point, she's  _not_  the same Gem who hurt you! She's not with Homeworld anymore, she's a Crystal Gem now!"

"And that's supposed to make me feel better because...?"

Steven groaned in frustration. It was especially infuriating considering their conversation earlier, how could she have unlearned it in such a short span of time? "Lapis, you're missing the point! She's not fighting to hurt innocent people now! She's trying to fight in the name of all the creatures that call Earth home! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"No." Lapis replied coldly, "It doesn't."

"Lapis, you're not being fair-"

"Fair? FAIR?!" Steven was taken aback at her sudden shouting, "You wanna know what isn't fair, Steven? Fair isn't being arrested and detained by the people who were supposed to safely welcome you home! Fair isn't being accused of being one of those stupid Crystal Gems just because you returned from the same planet they were occupying! Fair isn't being tortured for information THAT YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

"Lapis, I get it! Really, I do!" Steven argued, "All sorts of terrible, awful things have happened to you, and none of them were fair! But you know what else isn't fair? Not letting someone make it up to you when they want to apologize for treating you badly! I'd understand you being mad at her after giving her another shot, but you've been blowing her off without giving her a chance! That's not fair to Peridot at all!"

Peridot, who had remained silent for the duration of Steven and Lapis' argument, nodded enthusiastically and gave Steven a knowing smile of appreciation. Lapis however gave a furious groan of irritation. "YOU JUST DON'T GET IT! You may be willing to forgive her the second she starts playing nice with you, but I'm never going to forget the kind of torture I went through under her!"

"Lapis-"

" _ **SHUT UP!**_ " Lapis screamed harshly, tugging at her hair while doing so, "Just shut your mouth, you... you IDIOT!"

It seemed the entire forest fell silent after Lapis' outburst. The squirrels and birds both had stopped making their noises, and there was no rustling of other unseen critters to be heard either. Peridot just stood there with her jaw opened wide and Lion had risen from his nap, and was also staring intently at Lapis with a hint of predatory menace in his eyes. Steven however just stood there, rooted to the spot. He felt like he had been slugged in the gut, and could feel his eyes welling up. The Gem he had been nothing but nice to and who in return loved him dearly had just brutally insulted his intelligence. He knew he wasn't the brightest bulb in the shed. He was used to completely flubbing things up. And yet, following his instincts paid off so many times! Because of that, he was able to find out what pre-Crystal Gem Peridot was up to, formed a bond with the formerly feral Centipeetle, learned about the Cluster, and even freed Lapis from the mirror! That all had to count for something, especially since you wouldn't think Lapis would be so ungrateful towards the one who saved her from a life of imprisonment!

But any feelings of hurt and anger as well as any motivation to tear into Lapis disappeared when Steven took a good look at her face.The bitter anger-fueled Gem seemed to let her own words sink in, and was mortified by them. Both hands were clenched right over her mouth, fat tears ran down her cheeks, and her body was trembling like crazy.

"Steven..." Lapis choked, "I'm... I'm..."

"Lapis." Steven cut in firmly. Lapis shirked back at the sound of his voice, almost expecting him to tell her off... until she felt him wrap his arms around her waist, pulling her in close for a tight hug. "It's okay. I'm not mad at you!"

**(Song: Steven Universe, We Are The Crystal Gems Music Box Remix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edHX-f8cEfo)**

While Steven hugged her, Lapis returned the favor by scooping him up in her arms and hugging him as tightly as she could. She began to weep bitter, ugly tears while she held her little friend close. Peridot now went from feeling sad to mildly uncomfortable, and wandered off in order to let the two have their alone time.

" _Steven, I'm so, so sorry for calling you stupid!_ " Lapis sobbed, " _I wasn't thinking, I was- I was just-_ "

"You were mad, Lapis." Steven stated gently, "You didn't mean it! You were just angry, sad, and confused! It's okay to feel all those things!"

"But... but I insulted you!" Lapis sniffled, "What kind of person lashes out at her only friend like that?!"

"One who's been through a lot of bad stuff." Steven reassured her with a pat on the back. "Someone who's been hurt by so many people and been through a ton of pain for a super long time! Now come on, it's gonna be okay! I promise!"

For about a minute, there wasn't anymore talking. Steven relaxed his grip, but Lapis was still crying heavy tears and holding him tight. He softly patted her on the back, hoping he could ease her into a happier mood. And it kind of worked: eventually Lapis stopped and set him back on the leaf-covered ground. She sniffled and wiped her eyes, but still looked rather bleak and weary.

**(Silence)**

"Steven..." she sniffled, "I... I really am sorry. You were just trying to stick up for a friend, and... well, I just..."

"Like I said, Lapis: you just kinda snapped after being pushed around too much! You don't have to apologize to me!"

"I just wish I didn't blow up at you! You don't deserve it!"

"Hey, I'm a tough kid! I can take a few mean words!" Steven laughed. And it was true: this wasn't his first rodeo. Far from it, actually...

"I know, I just..." Lapis sighed and glanced to the side, "Look, Steven. I don't think I'm in any shape to talk about my feelings right now. I need some time to cool off and gather my thoughts, okay?"

"Yeah, I understand!" Steven approved with a nod, "I'll lay low while you find your happy place, okay!"

"Yeah, sure." Lapis agreed weakly. "Oh, but don't worry! Once I've got everything under control, I'll come back for you! Maybe even take you on a trip while we talk things out..."

Steven's eyes went starry at the sound of that. "Oh boy, another trip! Where should we go, though?"

"How about I sort out the details myself?" Lapis chuckled slightly, "Meanwhile, you go back to that barn of yours and wait for me! I promise I'll be back for you, okay?"

Steven nodded and smiled back at her. "Got it!" He then suddenly caught himself yawning huge, and widely. It didn't really hit him until then: but he was exhausted. After all, he had spent the entire night hanging out with Lapis, and their interactions had gone on far into the morning. He could definitely use the rest back at the barn.

"Are you okay, Steven?" Lapis asked, who was concerned due to naturally not being familiar with the concept of yawning.

 _'Aw, she's back to worrying about me!'_  Steven internally gushed before reassuring his friend. "Yeah, I'm fine! I'm just tired, so I'm gonna take a nap while you stay here. Okay?"

"Alright then!" Lapis then stuck a hand on Steven's curly hair and gave it a good, affectionate ruffle. "I'll see you in a bit! You take care now, you hear?"

"Yeah, same to you!" Steven and Lapis hugged for one last time before the boy left Lapis to her own devices. While she flew back up and sat on a tree branch, he approached Lion, who had dutifully gotten to his feet while Peridot wandered back, awkwardly whistling an aimless tune.

**(Song: Mario and Luigi Bowser's Inside Story, Dimble Woods: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vj8CZgDrsg)**

"Gee, Lazuli sure is a mess." Peridot noted seriously, "Did she really take what happened at Homeworld that personally?"

"Like I said, she's been through a lot, Peri!" Steven said while they both climbed onto Lion's back, "Lots of bad stuff's happened to her! She just needs time to sort it all out, you know?"

"Yes... but I just wish I could make her understand that I want to make up for hurting her! I just want her to like me!" Peridot sighed mournfully, while turning a guilty eye to the ground. She was surprised however when she was grabbed from behind and hugged by an affectionate Steven.

"Aw, don't worry, Peridot! I still like you!"

"Of  _course_  you do. Who DON'T you like?" Peridot grumbled in an adorably grumpy way. She did smile and ever-so-slightly blush though, still happy that she was at least in someone's good graces. With a roar, the pair and their fluffy pink ride disappeared back into the portal to the Barn, while Lapis had some much needed alone time to herself. While things weren't perfect, they had settled down, and that was all that mattered.


	2. Clair de Lune

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lapis and Steven fly over to Empire City, where they talk about what's been bothering Lapis while experiencing a bit of the city's nighttime beauty.

**(Song: Steven Universe, Rose's Fountain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKpYoMOzfYw)**

The sky was a beautiful mixed shade of pink and orange when Lapis finally flew back to the barn. The bird's eye view she had of the dwelling in the setting sun was great: its shadow seemed to spread all the way across the vast countryside, though it seemed to gradually get smaller the more the sun lowered behind the horizon. She touched down on the ground, looked inside the barn, and smiled when she saw that Steven was inside. He was handing Peridot some tools while the impish green Gem was busy tinkering with some kind of large green spherical vehicle.

"Hey, Steven!" Lapis called out. Both Steven and Peridot turned around: the small boy's eyes went starry as he grinned widely, while Peridot grinned nervously, then frowned a little, and averted her eyes to the ground in shame.

"LAPIS!" Steven cheered. He gave Peridot the tools that were in his hands and did a leaping hug at Lapis, who returned his affection by squeezing him tightly. She then set him on the ground and ruffled his hair.

"So, are you ready to go?"

"Yeah! As long it's okay with Peridot, at least."I

"I can handle the maintenance on my own. So run along, enjoy your little... excursion!" Peridot replied in her nasally tone. 

"Alright, Peri! See you later!" Happy with Peridot's blessing, Steven grabbed Lapis' hand and led his friend outside, where she let him climb onto her back.

"Alright Steven!" she called up, "Do you have a good grip on me?"

"Yep! You're clear to take off, captain!" He announced in a silly, authoritative voice. Not being the type to stand on ceremony, Lapis summoned her wings, and took off for the skies in a flap. Soon, the duo were high above the ground, which resembled a large grassy carpet, with patches divided by winding highways and train tracks. "So Lapis, where are we headed off to?"

"Well..." Steven couldn't see it, but a knowing grin was on her face. "You'll see  when we get there! I bet you'll like it!"

"Oh, a surprise!" Steven gasped, "Alright then, don't spoil it for me!"

Lapis responded with a giggle and continued soaring over the plains. As the evening slowly gave way to night and the pinkish sky was fading to black, Lapis remained silent. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to him, she'd do that once they reached their destination. But it was for a variety of reasons. A part of it stemmed from lingering embarrassment from her outburst earlier that morning. Yeah, Steven was okay and didn't want her to apologize, but she couldn't help but cringe when she thought back to that moment. She didn't have to respond so... brattily towards him. But yet, she did. She threw a temper tantrum and called her best friend an idiot, something she'd never forgive herself for. And it was for that reason that she swore to never let it happen again. The last thing she needed was to alienate the one friend she had!

But another part of it was that she was still thinking about how she was going to handle her situation. She had spent hours pondering on if she should just suck it up and deal with the Crystal Gems and apparently Peridot as well, or just leave the Earth and find her fortune out in space. After all, space IS infinite, at least as far as she knew. Homeworld couldn't have set up shop on ALL the planets out there...  _'Oh, why am I being so immature?!'_ Lapis couldn't help but feel frustrated by her indecisiveness: in theory, her choice should be obvious. Shack up on Earth, explore the enormous planet, and hang out with her Beach Summer Fun Buddy!

But she just couldn't shake off the uneasiness that came with having to stay on the same planet as the Crystal Gems and Peridot, walking and talking reminders of the trauma she had suffered. What if they tried to hunt her down and hurt her again? What if Peridot was just trying to trick her into letting her guard down so they could imprison her in something else?

But just fretting over the what-ifs in her mind wouldn't do any good. After all, she spent hours in the forest doing exactly that, and aside from calming down she still hadn't gotten anywhere with her fears and uncertainties! But that was subject to change when they reached their destination...

**(Song: Super Mario Odyssey, New Donk City: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF7nb4zU2fo &t=0s)**

"EMPIRE CITY!" Steven cheered, his eyes once again all stars, "Lapis, is that where we're going?" And indeed it was: the enormous city with its towering skyscrapers, busy streets, and bright lights enamored Lapis when they passed over it yesterday, so why not talk things out with her little buddy while visiting it? But yet, she couldn't help but feel tempted to mess around with Steven a bit...

"No, silly! Where'd you ever get that idea?" Lapis playfully denied, "We're going to Jersey, because when I think of a good time, I think of dirty air, awful smells, and people swearing at us!!" Unable to help herself, she and Steven broke into a mutual giggling fit.

"Aw, Lapis!" Steven scolded while Lapis continued to giggle. The laughter died down after a while, and Lapis decided to get a bit more serious.

"But yeah, Empire City's what I had in mind. Do you like the sound of that?"

"I totally do, thanks!"

The pair then fell silent for a while, and quietly marveled the beauty beneath them before Lapis chimed in. "So Steven, would you like me to land anywhere in particular?"

"Ooh, ooh! You see that huge casino over there?!" Steven pointed at an enormous ornate building that was standing across from an enormous pool of water. The pool of water seemed to be quite popular with the locals, as dozens of humans had flocked around: most were standing in a large crowd that circled the fence blocking off the water and were talking amongst each other while others were seated on packed wooden benches, also facing the water.

"Yeah! You want me to land there?"

"Well not  _there,_ but one of the buildings surrounding it, like that on that restaurant over there!" Steven pointed at a rather pleasant little stone building with a green tiled roof that sloped a little, but would make for a good private vantage point. And so Lapis glided over and landed on the sloped rooftop and allowed Steven to take his seat right at her side. "Oh man, looks like we came in between shows! Lapis, look at that huge pool of water and wait for a bit! You're REALLY gonna like what's about to happen!"

**(Song: Claude Debussy, Clair de Lune: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea2WoUtbzuw)**

Lapis was about to ask what he meant, but before she could vocalize, she was caught by surprise when a beautiful, melodic tune filled the air seemingly from nowhere. "Steven, what's going on?"

"The coolest thing ever!" Steven whispered to her, "Now come on, keep watching the water!" 

Lapis turned to the pool, and was completely dazzled by what she saw. The water had been illuminated by a light from beneath, and erupting from its surface were a series of thin fountains that stood two to a pair across the water. And what followed was something that Lapis had previously thought was only possible for a Gem like her to do: the fountains started to dance. Like reeds in the wind, the fountains swayed for a few seconds before dispersing, only to reform into larger groups of fountains, starting with four to a group to six and eight, before the cycle stopped completely. What followed was even more spectacular: instead of forming groups, an incredibly long trail of fountains erupted from the left end of the lake and traveled all the way to the other side, before the very center gave way to a large ring of fountains that swayed a bit before seemingly exploding.

"Steven..." Lapis muttered in amazement, her eyes starry from the spectacular sight, "This... this is beautiful!"

"Pretty cool, right?" Steven gushed while the fountain show continued to unravel before him.

"Yeah, Homeworld never had anything like this..."

"Homeworld didn't have a lot of cool things, huh?" Steven asked sadly.

Lapis thought back and nodded. Homeworld was a place that focused entirely on practicality, at least for the most part. Sure, upper class Gem were allowed commodities such as beautiful fountains, exotic gardens filled with beauty from now-dead planets that were tended to by their Pearls, and there were even areas of leisure for lower-class Gems. But for the most part Homeworld wanted nothing to do with anything that didn't serve a practical purpose. So while there may have been fountains, they never would have been set up to allow jets of water to dance while set to soothing music.

"And you know the best part? They put on these shows  _every_ night! Dad would sometimes take me to see them when he had business in the city! No matter how many times I see them, they're always so fun to watch!" Steven then turned to Lapis with a small smile on his face, "So just imagine living here and being able to see these awesome fountain shows every day! You'd like that, wouldn't you Lapis?"

"Yeah, I would." Lapis admitted, "They're really pretty. But... well... I'm..." she groaned and smacked herself on the forehead, "I'm still not sure what to do!"

"Not sure, huh?" Steven asked, "It's okay! It's a really big decision, so you should totally think long and hard about what you're gonna do next!"

Lapis smiled at Steven's reassurance and glanced back at the dancing fountains. "You see Steven... I really wouldn't mind staying here for your sake. You've been a good friend and helped me when no one else did, so I owe a lot to you! And it helps that Earth has a lot of beauty, such as those fountains, this city, or that forest. But if I stay on Earth... well, I'm back to being stuck on the same planet as Peridot and the Crystal Gems."

"Yeah, you had problems with them." Steven sighed before turning his gaze back to the fountains. "Lapis... what exactly happened between you and Peridot? She wouldn't really talk about it, but I can tell that it was pretty bad."

Lapis cringed a bit at Steven's question. She wasn't about to balk at answering, but just thinking about her return to Homeworld caused memories of that most unpleasant ordeal to resurface. Already she could see Peridot's expressionless face, feel the painful electricity surging through her body, hear Yellow Diamond's dismissive, cold voice...

"Lapis, you okay?" Steven asked, causing Lapis to flinch at the touch of his hand on her shoulder. "You were getting all shivery over there."

Lapis blushed a little, ashamed that she had let her bad memories completely overwhelm her even for a second. "Yeah, I'm... I'm fine." She then took a deep breath, faced Steven who was listening intently, and began. "You remember how I flew back to Homeworld?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I didn't quite fly all the way back. Not by myself at least."

"Well duh! Space is huge! You'd have taken thousands of years to fly all the way back there!" Steven answered.

"But yeah, on my way back home I was stopped by this huge probe that Homeworld had deployed. I think it's called a Roaming Eye, but apparently they use those to hunt down and detain Gems who escape from Homeworld and haul them back to be punished as enemies to the Diamonds. And unfortunately because I was flying away from Earth, the place where Rose Quartz's rebellion happened... the Rubies piloting the Eye labeled me a traitorous Crystal Gem and hauled me off to Homeworld to be interrogated." Lapis clenched her teeth just from the mere thought of being wrongfully imprisoned once again.

"It was pretty scary when I got back home." Lapis continued, "It was so militaristic: Civilians were constantly being bombarded with Diamond Authority propaganda, White Diamond gave speeches preaching about Gem superiority, and I even saw a Ruby get shattered in the streets for blowing a raspberry at a statue of Yellow Diamond." She sighed again and shook her head. "Homeworld's always been a tightly-run ship, Steven. But it was never this bad before Rose's rebellion. Before, you'd at least get a trial if you were accused of a crime. But me? I was hauled right off to a punishment facility, one of Yellow Diamond's. Just my luck that I'd be carted off to a place ran by the cruelest Diamond..." Lapis chuckled bitterly before continuing.

"And it was horrible: word got back to Yellow Diamond that I came from Earth as a likely Crystal Gem spy, and I was thrown into a maximum security cell where a small group of Quartz troopers and that Peridot were waiting for me, and they had that long-necked freak present through a video feed." Lapis sneered, more than happy to mock the overly-sensitive tyrant about her abnormal neck length, "They situated me in this device that bound my hands and feet, and all took turns grilling me, asking for information regarding the Crystal Gems. And every time I gave an answer that Yellow Diamond didn't like, Peridot..." Lapis shivered and shuddered in fear just from the thought of her punishment, "Peridot would electrocute me. That little harness would give me a long-lasting jolt of electricity that shot through my body and fried my Gem to its core."

"Lapis, That's... that's so awful! I'm so sorry that happened to you!" Steven gasped, his eyes glimmering with tears at the thought of his friend's torture. Lapis smiled sweetly, her trauma lessened by the presence of her empathetic friend.

"I don't know how long it went on," Lapis continued, an almost distant cloudiness in her eyes, "To me it felt like the torture lasted for hours, though it probably lasted only for a few minutes... but I thought it would never end. I did everything I could: I begged to talk to the Diamond I served: Blue Diamond. I denied any kind of association with the Crystal Gems. I insisted that I was just trying to make a long-awaited trip back home! But it just wouldn't end until... until I caved." Lapis faced away from Steven and back to the fountains, her core clenching at the thought of putting Steven in danger. "I told them what Yellow Diamond wanted to hear: I lied about being a Crystal Gem, but truthfully said that there were a few holdouts from the war back on Earth. And because of that, I put you in danger."

"Hey, don't get so down on yourself, Lapis!" Steven reassured her, "We beat Peridot and Jasper, we saved you, and now Peridot's our friend! No harm done!"

"But that doesn't make it right!" Lapis protested bitterly while tightly clutching her right arm, "You were almost hauled back to Yellow Diamond, who would've done... God knows what to you!"

"Lapis, it's okay! Seriously, stop being so hard on yourself!" Steven scolded her gently while placing an arm around her shoulders, "They were really, really hurting you! I totally understand why you'd want that to stop! And besides, it's not like you let Homeworld send troops to get us without us knowing, you sent that message to me! Thanks to that, we were able to prepare for Peridot and Jasper's arrival and evacuated the city! Your warning kept innocent people from being hurt!"

"Well... I guess you have a point." Lapis chuckled lightly, her friend's kind words were able to elicit another smile from her. But her smile soon transitioned into a small frown when she decided to pursue another topic. It was one that she was still embarrassed about blowing up at Steven over, but yet one that she really wanted an answer to. "Steven...?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you trust her? Why is Peridot your friend all of a sudden? You've seen how she is: she's cold! She's ruthless! She tried to hurt you! How in the world did you become friends with someone like her?! I just don't get it!" Lapis could feel her face flush, the hurt and anger when she saw Peridot at the barn fresh in her mind. Steven however simply shrugged in response to Lapis' question.

"Well, it's like I told you: she changed! She's not the mean Gem who hurt you back then!"

"But how do you know?!" Lapis argued, "How do you know she isn't trying to butter you up so she can stab you in the back later on?! You can't just undo the sort of things she's done!"

"Because I gave her a chance!" Steven stated emphatically, "Trust me, we didn't become friends over night! When we captured her, she was pretty mean to us, and the Gems didn't trust her. But I knew that she had some important information and got her to tell us about it, and after that she started to bond with us! I got to teach her about the rain, she found a favorite TV show, Garnet taught her about fusion, all kinds of cool stuff! And thanks to her, we were able to stop the Cluster, this big geoweapon Yellow Diamond made that would have destroyed Earth if Peridot didn't tell us about it!"

"That's nice, but how does that prove anything?" Lapis asked cynically, "From the sound of things, she  _had_  to tell you about the Cluster, or else she would have died with Earth."

Steven opened his mouth in an attempt to argue, but he glanced at the ground and sighed instead. "You know, I had my doubts about her too at one point. While we were getting ready to stop the Cluster, we had to get its coordinates from an old Diamond Base, where Peridot stole a communicator and used it to talk to Yellow Diamond. Man, I was so  _mad_  when she did that! I totally thought she was going to stab us in the back!" 

Steven then flashed a knowing smile at Lapis before continuing. "But you know what happened? When she called Yellow Diamond, she actually asked her to destroy the Cluster and spare Earth! She argued with her and told her that there was stuff worth protecting here! And when Yellow Diamond kept yelling at her, she called her a clod! A  _clod_ , Lapis! Oh man, you should have seen the look on her face!"

Steven chuckled before finishing his point. "But Lapis, can't you see? She had  _the_ perfect chance to betray us and go home, but she didn't! She proved for once and for all that she's not just a Crystal Gem, but a pretty good person! Someone who grew past being mean and cold and into someone great! Like I said before, Peridot's changed since the day she hurt you! We all gave her a chance, don't you think it's fair for you to do the same?"

For a minute, Lapis couldn't say anything. She wanted to argue, to get it through Steven's head that he was too naive for his own good... but how could she? Steven presented his case well: much like everything on Earth, Peridot too had changed. No more was she a heartless torturer, but a hero who saved Steven and his planet, one who burned her bridges with Homeworld in order to do so. Surely she could make peace with her and put the past behind them?

But it just wouldn't be that simple: even with this new information in mind, Lapis could feel a clenching sensation in her core and bile rise in her throat just at the thought of Peridot. She regretted her answer, but Steven had to know that things weren't going to go as smoothly as he wished. So with regret heavy in her heart, she sighed and shook her head. "Steven, I'm sorry. But... but I just can't forgive her." It pained her to see the look of sadness on Steven's face, but he had to know the truth, even if it hurt. "I wish I could, but I just can't sweep what she did to me under the rug. I can understand why you or the Gems would forgive her, but she tortured and imprisoned me! Every time I look at or think about her, I'm reminded of how painful it was to feel all that electricity surge through my body, how scary it was be be interrogated by the people who should have welcomed me back home! It's not fair that she can get away with that and act like nothing happened!

"But Lapis-"

"Steven-!" Lapis took a deep breath, determined not to explode on Steven like last time. Instead, she put a gentle hand on his shoulder and sadly looked him in the eyes. "You really are the sweetest, you know that? You're so compassionate, so forgiving, and you're willing to bury the hatchet with people who hurt you. I have no problem with you forgiving Peridot! But not everyone's going to forget the pain someone put them through, and they shouldn't be forced to be okay with it." Lapis then closed her eyes and sighed before massaging her temples. She didn't want to have to say it, but she had finally made up her mind as to what she wanted to do, though it would be hard to admit. "And because of that... I don't think I wanna stay on Earth anymore."

"You don't?" 

Lapis couldn't bear to look at him: his tone alone made him sound like a little kid whose pet just got hit by a car. But she worked up the courage and looked anyway, and sure enough he was sulking and staring sadly at his knees.

"Look Steven, this wasn't an easy decision to make! It's just-"

"You don't have to explain. I understand." Steven interrupted, turning to face Lapis with a sad smile.

"Really?"

"Yeah! It's pretty clear that there's a lot of stuff that you won't be okay with here on Earth. And I don't wanna be mean and keep you on a planet where you're going to be forced to be around people who hurt you! You should do what makes  _you_ happy, ya know? And to be honest, it's probably for the best." Steven shrugged with a nervous chuckle, "When Peridot insulted Yellow Diamond, I'm not kidding when I said that she made her  _really_ mad. Peridot's convinced that she's gonna send some troops down to punish her, so you'd probably appreciate being able to keep from getting caught up in another fight with Homeworld."

"Oh  _boy,_ am I!" Lapis sighed, thankful for the head's up. "Trust me when I say that I've had  _enough_ of Homeworld and the Crystal Gem's stupid squabbles. But..." Lapis sighed and shook her head, having thought of a rather big issue with her ordeal. "There's just one problem, Steven. Where am I gonna go now? Space is  _huge_ , but the same goes with the Diamond Authority's sphere of influence! Five thousand years ago they already colonized tons of planets, who knows how many they've colonized by now? Am I gonna be safe anywhere in outer space? I mean, there's no point to me leaving if Homeworld can find me again..."

"Don't worry Lapis!" Steven reassured her with a wide smile, "When I went back to the barn, I actually had a little talk with Peridot!"

"You did?"

"Yep!" Steven then turned back to the fountains before resuming the conversation, "You see, after we left the forest, I wasn't so sure if you were gonna stay. I tried to convince myself that you definitely  _were_  staying, but I accepted that it was a good idea to plan ahead in case if you did say no. So Peridot and I put our heads together: if you were gonna leave, where would you go? And you know what? Peri had the perfect place in mind!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! You see, Homeworld's empire hasn't spread out that much for the last couple of thousand years. In fact," Steven pointed at a huge cluster of stars positioned near the full moon, which was resting neatly in the center of the sky, "According to her, Homeworld doesn't have  _any_ territory out there because they're really short on resources, and they can't afford to conquer planets that are that far out, especially since the civilizations there are advanced enough to fight back! She thinks that because of this, you could totally go out there and live your life, safe from any sort of Gem stuff! Does that sound cool to you?!"

"Well... yeah! I'd say so!" Lapis admitted. She could almost feel the load dissipate from her chest now that she knew about this safe place she could go to. "But still, Homeworld's actually suffering from a resource shortage? My, how the mighty have fallen..." Lapis snickered, completely unsympathetic to her home planet's plight.

"And that's not all, Peridot's making it to where you don't have to fly all the way over there with your wings!" Steven added, "When you flew over to the barn to pick me up, did you notice what Peridot was tinkering with?"

"I did!" Lapis confirmed with a nod. "Wasn't she messing with this big green thing?"

"Yep, it was an escape pod on the Hand Ship! She converted it into this giant drill when we went to stop the Cluster, only now she's turning it back into a spacecraft, one that'll get you out there faster than if you manually flew out! Isn't that cool, too?"

"Yeah, it really is!" Lapis had to admit: as much as she loathed that little green wad of snot, she couldn't help but feel a bit touched that Peridot really was putting in this much effort to help her get to a safe place, far from Homeworld's reach. Though of course, it wasn't like she deserved the credit: it was Steven's idea in the first place! "Seriously Steven, thanks for helping me out!"

"No prob, Bob!" Steven thanked with a slight smile.

" _Lapis._ " She corrected with a sly smile of her own. The duo shared a few laughs before falling silent. They both resumed watching the fountains, only for the music to die down and the fountains to end much to Lapis' disappointment. "Aw, it's over already?!"

"Just wait a minute, Lapis." Steven giggled. "They're not done yet!"

**(Song: Andrea Bocelli, Con Te Partillo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wdx5nGphnAI)**

The duo watched the waters, and Lapis could feel her heart soar when she heard more music start up, albeit far different than what played earlier. For one, there was a human voice speaking during it! Not in a jarring way of course, but in an oddly beautiful, rhythmic way that complimented the accompanying music, and in a language that she couldn't understand. Now as a Gem, she had the ability to translate the language into something comprehendible... and yet, she didn't want to. The voice, especially combined with the illuminated fountains, the respectfully silent humans, the breathtaking city lights, and the magnificently starry sky was absolutely beautiful. Lapis just couldn't bring herself to understand it, it almost felt like that if she could understand the singer's words, it would detract from the beauty of it all. Instead, she was content to listen let the voice serenade her as the fountains danced for the onlookers.

"Hey Lapis, they don't have singing on Homeworld, don't they?"

"In the past, yeah. But now? I  _highly_ doubt it." Lapis answered with a smirk before switching to a frown. "I just hope singing is a universal constant, because I already know that I'm gonna miss this..."

"Well hey, it's not like you're leaving now!" Steven reminded her, "Peridot's gonna take a week to get the escape pod ready for space travel! So while you're waiting, how about we fly over here and hang out? A week of us taking on the mean streets of Empire City, seeing all there is to see! There's a lot of other cool stuff to do here, and I want you to have as much fun as you can before we say goodbye!"

"I like the sound of that!" Lapis giggled, "Though there's one last thing I want to ask: when should I take you back to the barn? After this show?"

"Hey, these shows last all night! How about we wait for the sun to come up, and then we go back to the barn? I bet dad and the Gems will understand!"

"So you go back to the barn during the day, and we head out here at night. I like the sound of that!" Lapis giggled. And for the last time that night, she and Steven fell silent, and took to watching the fountains. While she embraced the soothing music and watched the beautiful movements of the fountains, she hoped to the bottom of her heart that wherever she was going, they'd have something half as beautiful as this. If this was something exclusive to Earth, she'd be quite disappointed indeed. But it was no good to fret about the future when what mattered was the present. And when you're watching a beautiful series of fountain shows with your best friend during a beautiful moonlit night, what was there to complain about?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, this chapter came sooner than I promised! Thing is, I kinda want to speed the story along so I can get the main "Lapis' adventures in SPACE" plot moving along and THEN I'll switch to weekly updates! Though it doesn't matter much: thanks to my busy home life I won't have the next chapter up 'till next week anyway. :p
> 
> But yeah, another fun little chapter with Steven and Lapis! It has it's serious moments, but I hoped that the fluff and happiness made up for it! I really do find these two's friendship adorable (Which is why I LOVE Same Old World) and wanted some quality Steven/Lapis bonding before she left Earth. And Empire City is the perfect place to set their discussion in! And since Empire City draws inspiration from New York City AND Las Vegas, I decided to add in the fountain shows Steven and Lapis were watching to the beautiful Bellagio Foutains in Las Vegas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imxj5kaE2uU Yep, they exist, AND they have beautiful music playing while they do so! What's funny is that it's not exclusive to classical music, stuff like Michael Jackson's Billie Jean and Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds play during them as well! Same with the song that I link to during the last part of the chapter. :p
> 
> I just hope though that I don't look like I'm demonizing Peridot. I love the little green gremlin, I just want to show that form Lapis' perspective, she'd likely not be okay with her and wanted to show why she'd be so upset with her in the first place.
> 
> And now, some chapter name trivia! The name is from the piano piece by Claude Debussy, which I always thought was seriously beautiful which is also a song used in the Bellagio Fountain shows. I'll admit that unlike in other chapters that there's no big meaning to this: I chose the chapter name based on the song playing through most of the chapter. :p
> 
> And anyway, I'll be seeing you guys next week! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I know they're long, but I like my chapters like I do with my burgers: meaty and full of content!


	3. Goodbye Stranger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Farewell, Lapis Lazuli! After saying her goodbyes, Lapis heads out for space with only an escape pod and Greg Universe's CD collection in tow. What adventures await our favorite blue Gem out in the cold darkness of space?

**(Song: Steven Universe, The Hill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFQfOOwrigw)**

_"Time_ _flies when you're having fun."_  That was a proverb Lapis was familiar with, though not exactly one that she thought about too much. After all, Lapis wasn't exactly the kind of person who regularly got to have fun since she was trapped either in a mirror or under the sea for most of her life. Not to say that pre-Homeworld life was unfun per se, yet at the same time it's really hard to have fun when all you really did was whatever your kind was specifically created to do, and maybe lounge around with other Gems among Blue Diamond's court every now and then.

But now that she had the freedom to spend the last few nights with Steven, happily taking in the beauty of Empire City together? She was completely taken aback by just how  _true_ that saying was. All the nights they spent watching the fountains, visiting museums and concert halls, or just exploring the streets went by so quickly that the sun would come up before she knew it... until she found herself flying to the barn one last time.

The sun was slowly rising, bringing the countryside to life while Steven and Lapis soared above the clouds, showing that a new day was dawning... for Earth,  _and_ Lapis Lazuli. Today, she'd be making her long awaited departure from Earth, this time  _for_   _good,_ and she'd be free to find peace away from the planet. Away from all the strife, all the pain, all the drama that had ruined her life...

"Well Steven, looks like we're here." Lapis announced when the barn came into view, with the escape pod resting on the grass neatly in front of the door. "I just can't believe it's that time already..."

"Yeah, this week went by  _fast_." Steven remarked sadly while Lapis made her descent. When she touched down on the ground, he smiled a bit and added, "But we had fun, and that's what matters!"

"Well, yeah. But..." Lapis sighed while she let Steven down, "I just wish I got to stay on Earth for just one more day, you know? Are you sure that we can't spend any more time together?"

**(Song: Steven Universe, Little Peridot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se4bChbLKPQ)**

"One more day? But Lazuli, I was under the impression that you wanted to leave Earth as soon as you could!" Lapis balled her right hand into a fist on instinct while Peridot strolled out from behind the pod, a smug grin on her face while she approached the duo. "With as soon as you could meaning as soon as I finished re-purposing the escape pod! And TA-DA! It's ready to go!" Peridot gave a bow as the pod's glass cockpit slid open, revealing a rather nice, plush seat surrounded by blinking monitors and a rather large control panel.

"Huh. Doesn't look that different from back when it was the drill!" Steven noted while Peridot wagged a scolding finger.

"To an untrained eye, it  _would_ appear that way." Peridot admitted, "But most of the re-purposing I did had to deal with the escape pod's inner-workings. I had to make it capable of flight once more but with the controls I installed for drilling, make it capable of breaking orbit, making sure it can travel at a quick enough pace to tear through space at a decent rate without going so fast as to damage the pod. And of course, that in turn made me have to take several trips to scavenge the parts I needed: a few to the Moon Base, a few to some old Gem ships here on earth, and then came the test flights... but at last, the fruits of my hard work have ripened! What do you think, Lazuli?!"

Lapis gave a rather large yawn of boredom, and smirked at Peridot's resulting frown before shrugging. "It's fine, I guess." Truth be told, she  _did_ appreciate Peridot's gesture, but there was no way in hell she'd admit it to the awful little gremlin. So instead, she decided to change gears and pursue a more important topic. "So how am I gonna fly this thing, anyway?"

"Well, it's pretty simple!" Peridot climbed into the pod and scooted over to the right side of the seat, and patted the left with a silly little grin on her face. "Hey Lazuli, you wanna climb on in? I can't show you everything when you're out there, you know?"

Lapis gave a heavy sigh and buried her face in her palm. As loath as she was to admit it, she'd  _have_ to climb in next to Peridot if she wanted a complete understanding on how the pod worked. "Alright, fine. Just give me a second." She left Steven behind and climbed into the pod, sitting right next to Peridot who began to grin widely at her presence.

"Alright Lazuli, listen up! If you want to get this thing in motion, first you flip that little switch over there!" Lapis glanced at the control panel, which was mainly occupied by a large screen displaying a picture of the Earth. To the right of that was a little switch that from the look of things had already been flipped. "Of course, you don't need to flip it now, but that's how you activate and deactivate the pod!" Peridot then turned to a large button and pressed it. Upon doing so, the pod's glass cockpit slid shut, and suddenly the pod began to raise into the sky only to lower back down with another press of the button. "Now, movement of the pod  _can_ be done manually, but by default there's an autopilot feature installed that can take you to your destination via inputs on the star map down here!" Peridot pressed one of the many buttons underneath the image of the Earth, which caused it to rapidly zoom out until Lapis could see nothing but tons upon tons of stars.

"Huh. So that's a star map of some kind?" Lapis asked, to which Peridot nodded.

"Exactly! There are far more that aren't recorded, but this has the location of over two billion stars posted on it! Including the stars making up the system that ought to keep you safe and sound from Homeworld: the Nova Veluti System!" Peridot pointed to a small grouping of stars far to the screen's eastmost side. "TA-DA! What you're looking at is territory Homeworld can't get its hands on!"

"Oh yeah, Steven mentioned that." Lapis noted, thinking back to their discussion that night a while back, "Apparently they're going through some kind of resource shortage and that's why they can't colonize planets that far out. That, and apparently the locals can actually fight back."

"That's right, Lazuli!" Peridot chuckled, "But anyway, just one last thing you should know is that while you're backed up by an autopilot system, it's always nice to know how to manually fly the ship! Just in case the autopilot fails for whatever reason! Or if you have to dodge an obstacle like an asteroid on short notice! And of course, there's always the worst case scenario of you getting attacked by a hostile ship. You see, to control the ship manually-"

"Look, can you just give me the short version and let me leave already?!" Lapis snapped, absolutely hellbent on leaving the planet as fast as she could, as well as spending the least amount of time necessary with the little green gremlin. Peridot frowned a little at her sudden declaration, but took a deep breath and began rapidly pointing all over the pod.

"You see that pedal on the floor? You step on that, and you assume manual control of the pod, and it also makes it move forward. You see that control wheel? You turn that to make the pod go left or right. You see those levers? Pulling one helps the pod ascend, the other makes it descend. And you see that controller over there? You use that to control the ship's blast cannon. Any questions?"

"Nope. I'm good." Lapis remarked in a sneeringly calm fashion before glancing outside the cockpit and frowning, "Now let me out of here. I want to say my last goodbyes before leaving."

_"That ruddy little clod! No one appreciates a tech expert's advice. No one! No respect I tell you, absolutely no respect..."_   In the midst of her quiet grumblings, Peridot landed the pod and opened the cockpit and allowed Lapis to climb out and land back on the grass, where Steven was waiting patiently for her. 

**(Song: Steven Universe, We Are The Crystal Gems Musuc Box Remix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edHX-f8cEfo &t)**

"Hey Lapis!" Steven greeted her, the ever-so smallest hint of sadness in his voice, "So I take it you're gonna leave now?"

"Well, yeah." Lapis confirmed, "The pod's ready, Peridot gave me the lowdown on how the controls work... no use standing on ceremony, eh?" She chuckled, unable to hide the small twinge of regret in her own voice.

"Yeah, you've got a point." Steven admitted sadly, "But man, I'm really gonna miss you! Do you think you'll ever be able to come back and visit sometime?"

Lapis went quiet for a moment, completely stunned by Steven's question. It was a topic she had hoped to avoid due to the sheer heaviness of it, but there was no use ignoring it when it was dragged out into the open: Would she ever return to the Earth, even for a brief visit? She honestly wasn't sure if she could. Space was enormous, and even if it was a fast-traveling vehicle, if her pod didn't have some kind of warp drive attached it would take her hundreds, if not thousands of years to reach her "safe place in space". Steven may have been part Gem, but he was also part human, and from what she gathered humans were far, far less long-lived than Gems. Who's to say that Steven would still be around if she came back? Hell, who's to say that the Earth itself would still be around? A lot can change in the span of hundreds of years...

And even if she could go to and from the Nova Veluti System in a matter of weeks or months, there was still the problem Earth had hanging over it: the Crystal Gem/Homeworld conflict. What if she returned to visit Steven, only to get caught up in a ferocious battle between both factions? What if she was captured and tortured once again, if not shattered outright? That was  _exactly_ what she hoped to avoid by going far out of Homeworld's reach in space, and by coming back to Earth she ran the risk of unintentionally inviting them back into her world and reopening her old wounds. It was a hard choice, but this had to be her final goodbye, even if she couldn't be completely honest about it.

"Well... maybe. We'll see what happens." Lapis lied, feeling absolutely sick to her stomach while she did so.  _'I'm so sorry, Steven...'_ But the smile on Steven's face warmed her heart all the same. Seeing that smile and the starry eyes that followed was well worth a little white lie.

"Aw man, I can't wait to see you again! Just imagine all the cool things you could see in outer space! Maybe you'll see giant chameleon monkeys! Ooh, or planets that have purple rainstorms! Ooh, ooh, or maybe you'll see some space whales! Oh man, what about-"

"I get the picture, there's a lot of strange, cool stuff in space!" Lapis chuckled warmly. "Though it really makes me wonder what all's out there. All that unexplored territory, with all sorts of unfamiliar people and places... I just hope I can fit in there."

"Aw Lapis, of course you will! You're really nice, really pretty, and you have super cool water powers! The people out there are gonna love you!" Steven gushed, which elicited another chuckle from Lapis. 

"Oh, you're too kind, Steven!" Lapis giggled, though in the back of her mind she felt another large bit of guilt flare up. After all, nice people didn't lie to the face of their best friend, or try to drown them, or force someone to stay trapped in a fusion against their will, or-

"HEY, LAZULI!" Peridot hollered from the escape pod, "Are you heading out or not?!"

Lapis scoffed angrily as she shot a glare at Peridot, who suddenly squealed a bit in fear and shrank back into the pod's chair. "Yeah, yeah, just give me a second!" After yelling at Peridot, Lapis turned to Steven and gave a sad smile. "Well... it's been nice knowing you Steven."

"Same here." Steven responded, "I hope I can see you again!"

Lapis' eyes widened before she turned away and gazed guiltily off to the side. "Me too, Steven." Knowing this would be her last chance to do so, Lapis quickly bent over and grabbed Steven close in a tight hug. She held him for a few seconds and could feel her little friend return the gesture with his own surprisingly powerful iron-clad grip (must come with being a Quartz, she thought) before they split up. "Alright Steven, I'll see you... later."

"See ya, Lapis."

**(Silence)**

And with that, Lapis stepped back towards the pod, where Peridot was sitting with a rather nervous grin on her face. "Hey Lazuli. Heading off to space? Gonna have some fun exploring the cosmos? Are you- EEP!" During her spiel Lapis had summoned her water wings, morphed them into a pair of arms, and caught Peridot in a tight vicegrip.

"Get out of my pod." Lapis then flung Peridot to the ground and took her place inside. She made herself comfortable on the large seat and rested her hands on the control wheel.  _'Well, I guess it's now or never.'_ Lapis thought to herself while she sighed and glanced at the activation switch. She flipped it, causing the pod's motor to roar to life and all the screens inside to turn on with a soft sea-green glow. She then went and placed her hand on the button that would cause the pod to lift off. But just when she was about to press it...

**(Song: Steven Universe, Little Peridot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se4bChbLKPQ)**

 "LAZULI, WAIT!" Peridot squealed while she ran over to the front of the cockpit.

"Go away." Lapis stated plainly, only for Peridot to shake her head frantically.

"No, wait! Please, just hear me out, and you can go! I promise!" she begged. Lapis was tempted to just blast off and leave her in the dust, but decided to hear her out... but for this one thing only.

"Fine. But make it snappy." she growled, much to Peridot's pleasure.

"Well... Lazuli, I'm... I'm sorry." Peridot apologized sadly, her head sinking to the ground. "I'm really, really sorry for the bad things I did to you. For interrogating you, torturing you, dragging you back here... everything. I just wish I could make up for it, but this escape pod's the best I've got. You don't have to accept it, I just... I just wanna make things right the best way I can, you know? So uh..." Peridot then began to twiddle her thumbs a bit while blushing before continuing, "You have a safe trip out there, okay?"

_'She really does feel bad for hurting me, huh?'_ Lapis thought back to the previous week and the talks she had with Steven, about how much Peridot had changed. How she had gone from cold Homeworld lackey to a hero in her own right. Someone who had caused her a great deal of pain, and yet went so far as to help create a special vehicle to take Lapis to her new home. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all...

"Thanks, Peridot." Lapis thanked coldly, causing Peridot to perk back up, her eyes starry and wide with a dumbfounded look on her face. "Now go away."

"Y-y-yes! Got ya, Lazuli!" Peridot shambled away, and under her breath Lapis could hear her chuckle madly to herself. "NyahahahahahaHA! I did it! She accepted my apology! Lazuli  _likes_  me now!"

_'In your dreams,'_ Lapis scoffed internally,  _'I'm just grateful for the help, that's all! Gratefulness and liking someone are two unrelated things! Now, it's about time I finally get off this plan-'_

**(Song: Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney, Maya Fey theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTmQDAUSvac)**

"Lapis, WAIT!" Steven hollered as he ran over to the escape pod, panting heavily while he did so.

"Steven?!" Lapis called out in surprise, "I'm about to go, do you need something?"

"Yeah! I totally almost forgot to give you your going away present! Here!" Steven tossed a large round circular device onto the seat next to Lapis, and then tossed in two large burlap sacks right after that. 

"Oh! Well... thank you, I guess?" Lapis thanked reluctantly, not exactly sure what the boy gave her.

"OH! You totally don't know what I gave you, huh?" Steven asked, having caught on pretty quickly. "Well, you know how we had so much fun taking in the music of Empire City?"

"Yeah! How could I forget that?!" Lapis asked, the beautiful melodies from fountain shows, live concerts and the like still fresh in her mind.

"You see, I thought a great going away present would be my old SUMY CD Player! It's a little device that'll play music for you if you put in a CD! Just look!" Steven grabbed the device he threw next to Lapis and opened it, revealing a disc of some kind. "This is a CD I had my dad burn for you! It plays a whole bunch of different songs if you press that button over there," Steven pointed at a thick square button with a triangle shape engraved on it, "And there are a ton of other CD's in that sack over there once you're done with this one! You'll have a ton of music you can listen to without getting bored of any of it! Pretty neat, right?"

"That's very neat indeed, Steven! Thank you!" Lapis thanked Steven, far more enthusiastically then she did with Peridot, "But what's in that other bag?"

"Oh, more batteries! If the CD player stops working, just pop in a new pair and it'll keep on chugging along! They're basically CD Player fuel!"

"Alright, thanks for the heads up!" Lapis giggled, "So, you have anything else to give me before I go?"

"Nah, that's about it." Steven shrugged before stepping away. "You go have fun now! I'll miss you!"

"Same here, Steven. Thanks for... well, for everything." Lapis thanked the kind boy before glancing down at the liftoff button.

**(Song: Steven Universe, Mirror Gem music box remix: https**   **://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUtRZ-yyu7U)**

With all interruptions taken care of and a shiny new CD player in tow, she smashed her hand down on the button. The effect was instantaneous: the cockpit slammed shut, and through it Lapis could see Steven and Peridot both waving goodbye to her. The escape pod vibrated violently as it rose into the air, causing Lapis to be shaken like a kitten in a toddler's grip while more and more energy gathered around the top of the escape pod, until...

*BOOM!*

With a powerful explosion, the escape pod was propelled straight into the air at a breakneck pace while surrounded by a neon green aura. The countryside Lapis could see through the cockpit seemed to grow smaller and smaller and smaller still... until a minute had passed, and soon all she could see was a huge blue planet, the green and sandy brown continents below looking nothing like the countryside she had been at almost a minute ago. She couldn't see him anymore, but Lapis just knew that Steven was standing where he was, waving enthusiastically as he saw off his friend for one last time.

_'Take care of yourself Steven. You're too good for this miserable planet...'_

* * *

 "See ya, Lapis." Steven quietly said to himself as Lapis' pod shot off past his line of sight. He could feel his eyes slightly well up, but the smile on his face when he looked up at the sky was genuine. While he was already missing his blue friend, at the same time he was happy for her. Now that she had left Earth for good, she'd be free from all the bad things that happened to her! Free to blast off into space, and boldly go where no man has gone before! In fact, he was already hoping that she'd be back soon, if only to hear all about the cool stuff she'd see out among the cosmos...

**(Song: Steven Universe, Little Peridot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se4bChbLKPQ)**

 "STEVEN! GET OVER HERE, HURRY!"

Peridot's screechy, nasally call for help caused the boy to jump about a foot in the air before he gathered his bearings.

"I'm coming, hold on!" Steven ran over to the barn, where Peridot had wandered over to after waving goodbye to Lapis. He wasn't sure what got her so riled up, but she was standing in front of a workbench, sweating profusely. "Hey Peridot, I'm here! Is something wrong?"

" _Wrong?_ You don't even know the half of it, Steven Quartz!" Peridot sputtered while Steven made it to her side. He could see that her already light green face had grown several shades paler, and she was tightly grasping several long light green rods in her hands."I... I've made a terrible, horrible mistake..."

"Like what, Peri?"

"You see these, Steven?" Peridot asked Steven as she showed him the green rods in her hands.

"Yeah! What are those?"

"They're fuel rods, Steven. Rods of solidified plasma that Homeworld has used as fuel for ships for the longest time. And that includes escape pods, too. Like Lazuli's."

Steven cocked an eyebrow, not really sure where Peridot was going with this. "Uh, OK? I'm not really sure what you're trying to tell me, Peridot."

"I went through the trouble to grab a few from the Moon Base, knowing that Lazuli wouldn't even come close to reaching the Mercury System with one fuel rod powering the pod... AND COMPLETELY FORGOT TO GIVE THEM TO HER! I'M SUCH A STUPID, STUPID CLOD!" After her cry of fury, Peridot devolved into a punch of incoherent gibberish as she fell on her back and tossed the rods in the air before thrashing her limbs around.

"Oh!" It had finally sunk in for Steven, who then turned his gave back up to the morning sky, only for his pupils to dilate when he let the ramifications sink in. "...oh."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, I got caught up in family business. D:
> 
> But anyway, here's chapter 3! I'm sorry if not a lot happened in this one, but I wanted Lapis' departure from Earth to be a big event all on its own, with her interstellar adventures happening right afterwards. In a way, I'd consider this to be where the adventure REALLY begins. So if you want, threat this and the previous chapters like parts of a prologue, with the REAL chapter 1 starting next time! :p
> 
> But I don't really have a lot to say, just wanted Lapis to get a nice sendoff before leaving! I will however share a bit of chapter name trivia: despite being a rather groovy little song, Goodbye Stranger by Supertramp is one that always made me feel a bit sad. And the lyrics really fit Lapis' farewell to Steven: she loves him dearly and will miss him, but has to leave and look out for herself in what could be considered a selfish move by others. Will she find her paradise? Will her dreams come true? I dunno! But she's gonna be shining like brand new anyway. :p
> 
> Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter! That's where the fun will REALLY begin, with Lapis meeting a rather fun new character.


	4. Help!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After reality ensures and Lapis' pod runs out of fuel, she makes her way to an intergalactic convenience store for help. The beginning of the "Dizmol Arc".

**(Song: Reel Big Fish, Drunk Again: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NYwoDEZ8hdw)**

_'If I had a dollar bill for every time I've been wrong,'  
_

_'I'd be a self-made millionaire and you'd still be gone,'  
_

_'So hand me down my best dress shoes and my best dress shirt,'_

_'Cause I'm going out in style to cover the hurt...'_

While the melancholy music rang out through Lapis' headphones, the Gem stared listlessly down at the escape pod's control panel. All through her core, this nasty feeling bubbled up deep inside of her: a feeling of regret. Regret for selfishly leaving her only friend behind on Earth, having given him false hope for her return. Regret for stealing his planet's ocean and attacking him when he was only trying to help...

 _'So this is it, huh? After all the crap I put myself through, after all the terrible things I've done, Steven wants me to stay on Earth with him... and I thank him by lying to his face and leaving him behind forever. Some friend I am.'_ Lapis clutched her head with both hands and gripped on her temples while sighing.  _'No matter how many chances I'm given, I'm always just gonna screw things up, huh? Malachite, the barn... I'm a real piece of work, aren't I?'_

But while nothing was stopping Lapis from taking control of the pod's autopilot and veering back towards Earth, she just couldn't bring herself to do it. Waiting back at Earth were all the things she hated: the Crystal Gems, Peridot, Jasper, the threat of Homeworld returning... as much as she hated herself for her selfishness, she was set in her ways.  _'No sense in whining: I made my bed, didn't I? I suppose I ought to lie down in it and try not to be a bigger piece of garbage than I already am.''_

**(Song: Reel Big Fish, Sell Out: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QL3Rj9IT4Mc)**

In the mood for some cheerier tunes, Lapis hit the skip button on the CD Player, which immediately switched from the initial somber tune to something with a far more lively, bouncier, all-around happier sound to it with exciting brassy instruments providing the melody.

 _'Heh, I kinda like this one.'_ Lapis thought to herself, a small smile on her face as the heavy, iron-clad burden on her heart slightly dispelled, if only temporarily. While the singer explored the concept of selling out in the most upbeat manner possible, Lapis leaned back in her chair and propped her feet up on the control panel. She shut her eyes, and sighed as she listened to it. Eventually, her foot began to tap the cockpit's glass in tune to the beat, almost on instinct.

 _'You know, Steven: as awful as I've been to you, maybe I can do my part in making up for it by enjoying your gift to the fullest.'_ Lapis thought to herself as she began bobbing her head along to the rythym,  _'I'm only twenty-two "Seedees" in, and there are still so many others to listen to! I have to admit, you humans really know what you're doing when it comes to music.'_ Lapis thought to herself. She then crossed her arms over her chest and began to smile wider.  _'You know, maybe I ought to stop being so down on myself. I'm on a fast track to a new life, and it probably shouldn't take too much longer to reach my destination at this rate...'_

It was then that Lapis learned the first of many very, very valuable lessons about life: never, EVER say anything that can set yourself up to get jinxed on. Case in point, her pleasant music-listening session was interrupted by the sound of a loud, high-pitched ringing sound that screamed over the music playing in her headphones.

**(Song: Phoenix Wright Dual Destinies, Noisy People: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NowHPcWs7so)**

"What the-?!" Lapis gasped as she was caught off guard, her flinching causing her to bang her head on the pod's ceiling and her headphones to fall off her head and clatter onto the floor. As she rubbed her slightly aching head, Lapis looked at the control panel, which as far as she could tell was the source of the alarm: the screen had turned a bright red color while showing the picture of a near-empty container and a warning message underneath it.

"Fuel capacity at... 5%?" Lapis read aloud as she could feel the ship gradually slow down to a crawl, "Insert new fuel now..."  _'Well... I suppose there could be some fuel laying around here, right? I mean, I'm pretty sure that Peridot would have the foresight to leave me some for my journey...'_

Lapis bent over and studied the floor in hopes of finding anything that resembled a container of fuel. Cursing herself for being 5000 years behind in regards to knowing about Gem technological advances, Lapis started to shift around in her seat to see if there could be some sort of weird compartment where Peridot could have left any fuel... but the only extra compartment Lapis could find was one that had the same symbol as the warning screen did, which a quick opening of the lid revealed that it was merely the fuel tank. Inside was a small sea-green lump at the bottom, which seemed to gradually melt away.

"Oh come on!" Lapis snarled as she began studying the control panel, wondering if there could be any sign of a potential fuel cache that she missed, "Don't tell me that Peridot forgot to leave me fuel! There's  _got_ to be some left!"

Thirty seconds of frantic scavenging confirmed Lapis' fears, and things just went from bad to worse from there: one by one, the lights in the escape pod shut off while the pod's engine's roaring quieted and the vehicle creeped to a stop. Soon, only the control panel's main screen was left glowing as it showed the last message Lapis wanted to see: "Fuel levels at Zero percent. Initiating shutdown protocol. Please refuel at the nearest opportunity." The screen then blinked off, leaving Lapis sitting completely alone in the dark, staring dumbfoundedly down at the blank screen. 

**(Silence)**

And for a few minutes, Lapis sat in the darkness of the pod, not really sure how to react to this new development. A part of her wanted to scream, a part of her wanted to punch a hole through the escape pod's map screen, while yet another part of her wanted to fly back down to Earth and teach Peridot a lesson for her incompetence... but once Lapis finally reacted, she couldn't bring herself to be angry. All she could manage was slumping back into her seat and groaning loudly while smacking a palm to her face.

As much as Lapis wanted to shift the blame onto her, there was no use being angry with Peridot for this screwup: this one was on her. Peri did all she could to make sure she had a safe trip through outer space: she went through the trouble of re-outfitting an escape pod with state of the art technology and made sure to give her an in-depth look at how to operate it... but Lapis simply didn't care at the time. She flippantly forced her to speed her way through it, and thanks to her impatience and spiteful, rude behavior, she likely prevented Peridot from realizing that she had to leave her enough fuel to make a complete journey to the Mercury System. And look where it led her: she was drifting through space in a dead vehicle, all because she couldn't resist acting spiteful towards someone who wanted to help her.

 _'Well, looks like I get to add another screwup to the tally,'_ Lapis thought bleakly to herself. But as tempting as it was to wallow in her own self-pity, it wasn't like Lapis was helpless. She could easily fly to the Mercury System with the wings on her back thanks to her nature as a Gem allowing her to survive the cold vacuum of space. Sure, it would take an  _incredibly_ long time, but it wasn't like sitting around and grumbling to herself would make it go by any faster.

**(Song: Super Mario Galaxy, Space Junk Galaxy: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pJXAx_5Qky4)**

So with a heavy heart, Lapis pushed open the cockpit and stepped out into the vast void that was outer space, allowing Steven's CD player and bags containing CD's and batteries to drift out with her. She sprouted her wings and flapped them in order to stay in place as she scoped out her surroundings. As to be expected, it was  _gorgeous_ : trillions of stars twinkled around Lapis, and brilliantly colored, cloud-like nebulae added a much-needed splash of color to the blackness of deep space. Asteroids of various shapes and sizes drifted all around her, and Lapis could see the tell-tale tail of a dazzling comet whizzing past far across the horizon. Having always been fond of star-gazing, Lapis couldn't help but simply watch and marvel in awe at the world around her until the sight of her sacks and CD Player drifting off eastward bought her back down to Earth.

"WHOA!" Lapis exclaimed in surprise as she flew over and tucked the bags under arm, "Oh geez," she sighed in relief as she grabbed the CD Player and headphones as well, "If I lost Steven's gift, I swear I'd... huh?"

In her bid to prevent her music from drifting away, Lapis took notice of something that had evaded her sight until now: off in the distance she could see a curious structure on a large, stationary asteroid. It was a polished, sleek and shiny chrome building, with red and yellow accents, and a picture of a strange, smiling mole-like creature waving a clawed paw painted above the glass double doors.

"Well aren't I lucky?" Lapis mused aloud, "When my ship runs out of fuel it does so near some sort of interstellar outpost. It looks friendly enough, and if the locals have fuel they can give me..." Lapis took note of the far-off friendly mascot critter. "Hmm... well I highly doubt that this is some kind of Homeworld outpost, so I may as well give it a shot. Can't hurt to try, can't it?"

And so, Lapis placed the CD Player and its accompanying accessories back inside of the escape pod, flew behind it, and thanks to the lack of gravity was able to push the ship along to the outpost at a decent speed. As Lapis drew closer, she noticed the presence of large, bulky spacecraft that looked rather unfamiliar and alien, further putting her fears of potentially running into Homeworld forces to rest.

When Lapis came close enough to touch down, she was caught by surprise when she and the escape pod suddenly began to gently drift straight down to the metal-plated ground surrounding the outpost. "Whoa! Huh?!" When Lapis and the pod landed, Lapis glanced down at the steel-plated ground, which was decorated with glowing neon blue down arrows, and had an epiphany. "Ah, so this must be some sort of gravity field, huh? Heh, well that makes sense..." Happy that she didn't have to worry about fiddling around to see if the ship had any sort of "self-sustained anti-drifting protocol" or something similarly techno-babbly, she looked at the sliding glass doors leading into the outpost. She took a deep breath, clenched her fists, grit her teeth in determination, and made her way inside. 

**(Silence)**

When Lapis approached the doors, she was surprised to see them automatically open at her approach, leading into a grey-walled room with a round, thick glass porthole looking inside. When the doors shut, Lapis was met with a ringing sound that seemed to emit from all around her, followed by a rather cheery, almost rustic sounding male voice.

"Well hi there, valued customer! It looks to me that you just stepped inside of Dig-E's: the best rest station this side of the galaxy! Would ya be so kind as to wait all patient-like while the entry chamber's oxygen supply refills? Thank ya kindly!"

After a brief fifteen seconds of silence, the friendly chiming sounded off again and the entry chamber's doors opened. Alright y'all, oxygen levels are all back to normal! Feel free to step inside and browse to your heart's content! Y'all have a nice day, now!"

**(Song: Earthbound, Buy Something Will Ya: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_TiJJ3XUDbw)**

Lapis took a step inside of Dig-E's proper, and as the solid steel doors shut behind her she took note of her surroundings. As it had been advertised, Dig-E's seemed to indeed be a cozy little rest station. All around there were large, sleek chrome tables and cushy, comfy looking benches surrounding them: perfect for sitting at and getting off your feet after a long day, no doubt. There also seemed to be a lot of strange goods available for visitors to enjoy: there were plenty of red, yellow, and purple plasticine shelves that lined the walls of the station that were filled with colorful containers filled with all sorts of exotic sounding items. Lapis could only guess just what in the world things like "Gruph Jerky", "Splurchberry Pop", and "Chokko-Dusted Sugar Comets" were...

But surprisingly, as cozy as Dig-E's was, not many people were present at the moment. There was a family of stout, short anthropomorphic mole people seated at a table, with the two larger ones spearing round white fruits speckled with bits of orange on their knife-like claws and devouring them while the children played with small toy robots. Meanwhile, Lapis could see a rather tall and rotund seafoam green-skinned alien over at the store's eastmost corner, studying a shelf stacked with bottles full of strange liquid. Intrigued by the bottles, Lapis focused on them as well only to be interrupted by someone clearing their throat.

"Hey, Blue." a gruff voice caused Lapis to slightly jump and turn around, "Ya need something?"

Standing behind the counter on top of a small footstool was a pale, strange-looking goblin creature dressed in a red, yellow, and purple vest and slacks. He was rather small at around probably three feet tall with long spindly limbs, huge bulging yellow eyes with narrow slits for pupils, and rather long ears as well. He was also rather portly, and had a sour look on his face. All in all, a goofy looking fellow, and one who Lapis just couldn't help but stare at, an action that the goblin clerk wasn't amused by.

"Uh... hello? Earth to Blue? You just gonna stand around and gawk at me all day?"

Lapis flinched and blushed a navy blue while she cried out in surprise. "Oh, sorry about that," She apologized somewhat reluctantly while the goblin rolled his eyes.

"Friggin' foreigners..." he grumbled under his breath before clearing his throat. "Anyway, welcome to Dig-E's, Miss: the best rest station this side of the galaxy. Are ya looking to buy something? Or are ya just looking for a place to fuel up and rest a bit?"

"The name's Lapis," Lapis corrected the clerk, somewhat annoyed by him getting her name wrong twice in the span of a few seconds, "But yeah, I'm gonna need some fuel for my ship: I ran dry on my way here.

"Well then, you're gonna want to head over to the backmost aisle down there, we've got fuel cannisters for days." the clerk pointed over at the back of the station. Lapis turned in the direction he pointed, and saw that lining the far wall's shelves were tons of large green containers that were labeled "Liquid Plazma."

"Alright then, thanks for helping!" Lapis thanked the clerk with a small smile on her face while he grunted, yawned, and leaned against the wall behind the counter. All it took was a short trip to the fuel aisle, and in a few quick seconds Lapis had a plazma canister tucked under her arm! She made her way back outside, eager to refuel and continue her journey out to the Nova Veluti System... only for the shopkeeper's harsh screaming to stop her right at the doors.

"HEY, WHADDYA THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

Lapis cried out in surprise and turned around, the shock of being hollered at almost making her drop the canister. "What's your problem?!" Lapis shot back, "I'm taking my fuel and leaving, of course!"

"Without paying?! Are you a freakin' idiot or something?!" the clerk hollered at her, beet red in the face while the rest stop's alien patrons all turned around and stared right at Lapis.

The Gem's cheeks in turn went dark blue. Considering the shopkeeper's over the top outburst, the accusatory stares of the small crowd, and that feeling of shame creeping up on her, Lapis had a feeling that she must have broken a taboo of some kind. Right when she was hoping not to get stuck in the middle of any conflicts either...

"What are you talking about?" Lapis asked, "You pointed me over to where the fuel was and you said I could take it... If I did something wrong I really didn't mean to!"

"Are ya telling me that you don't understand how payment works? Ya don't buy or sell things back home?"

"Well... no." Lapis confirmed, prompting an eye roll from the disgruntled clerk. At this point his rudeness was legitimately ticking her off. There wasn't any sort of "buying or selling" concept back at Homeworld: you'd receive gifts from your Diamond or barter for goods like Pearls and art amongst other high caste Gems, but other than that..."

"Geez lady, it's a pretty simple process: ya want something? Ya pay for it, with cold hard cash. And by cash, I mean these babies right here." the clerk explained while he produced a few golden coins from his pants pocket. "Nova Credits."

 _'Ah, so this is basically a bartering and trading system, but with those little coins? I guess I understand,'_ Lapis thought, a bit proud that she was catching on to this "paying" concept. But there was still a small problem here...

"Well... I don't have any of those credit things." Lapis stated awkwardly. "So what do I do?"

"Well it's simple, lady" the clerk grunted as he slipped the credits back into his pocket, "No credits? No fuel. Now get outta here."

"Whoa, hold on a second!" Lapis argued, "You can't just throw me out, my ship needs more fuel!"

"Well it sure sucks to be you, now doesn't it?" the clerk scoffed, unsympathetic towards Lapis' plight. "I don't know how you people do it back home, but here in Nova Veluti, money talks. And if you don't have any money on hand, I'm not interested in what you have to say."

"B-But-"

"Nope."

"Hey-"

"Shut up."

"Would you just-"

_"Not. Interested."_

It was clear that the clerk was set in his ways. That stupid, ugly, tiny little goblin absolutely would not let her get a word in... just what was his problem, anyway? What gave him the right to act so rude to her? While she pondered these questions, Lapis looked down at the container of plazma in her hand and clenched her fist. A nasty, spiteful little idea crossed her mind the more she thought about that infuriating gremlin:  _'You know what? Screw this. I wasn't looking for any kind of trouble, but if this jerk wants to mess with me, then Screw. THIS. What's to stop me from just smacking him down with some water and walking out with the fuel? I stole Earth's oceans, after all, what can a tiny little gremlin like him do to me?'_

Lapis tensed up, letting her watery wings sprout from her Gem. She shot a glare at the storekeeper, whose face had immediately gone from sneering and hateful to shocked and taken aback. But before she did anything she might regret, an oddly gruff, yet gentle voice rang out from Dig-E's eastmost section.

**(Song: Undertale, sans.: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=N1-RyLUQUrA)**

"Whoa whoa whoa, settle down you guys! There's no need to get all ugly with each other!"

Lapis turned to face the source of the noise, who was waddling over with a six-pack container of "Tentacle Brew" tucked under his arm. It was the green alien Lapis had seen earlier: a towering, chubby, and somewhat cuddly-looking fellow with large round yellowed eyes, a big bulbous nose, rather thick and bushy eyebrows, and a tuft of odd feathery down poking out on top of his head. He was dressed in a faded baby blue jumpsuit stained with sweat and oil, and seemed to walk with a slight limp. It was clear that this guy had seen better days, yet the smile on his face and sparkle in his eyes was youthful and cheery. And the clerk seemed familiar with him, given the roll of his eyes.

"Gee whiz Hurley, don't tell me you're about to white knight for this freeloader!" the clerk snapped at the chubby alien named Hurley.

"Plakkson, come on," Hurley scolded gently, "All Blue here wants is some help, there's no reason to be so rude to her!"

"Rude? Buddy, have you beenwatching her?" the clerk named Plakkson argued while pointing an accusatory claw Lapis' way, "She comes in here demanding free fuel and cops an attitude when she actually has to pay for something from a friggin'  _store_ , and  _I'm_ the bad guy here?!"

"Good guys don't exactly leave strangers stranded in space, you know." Hurley scolded, which caused Plakkson's ears to droop before he stepped back defensively.

"Hey, come on... I wasn't gonna strand her in space or anything! Honest! I was gonna tell her to see if she could hitch a ride with a customer, it's just..."

"You work long hours for chump change in the middle of nowhere. Yeah, that's not fun and all, but that doesn't give you the right to take it out on other people!" Hurley then turned towards Lapis and waved at her with a stubby hand. "Hey, on behalf of my buddy here, I'm really sorry for everything. The attitude, the lack of hospitality..."

"Oh uh... thanks, I guess..." Lapis thanked Hurley somewhat hesitantly, dissipating her wings while bashfully scratching the back of her head. She guessed this was rather nice of this Hurley fellow, but she could take care of herself...

"Hey, no need to thank me yet, miss!" Hurley chuckled jovially, "You're in need of some fuel for your ship, right? But that lack of credits is a pretty big problem, not gonna lie..."

 _'Well thanks for stating the obvious, mister...'_ Lapis replied internally.

"Or at least, it would be a problem," Hurley continued as he reached into his pocket, "If you didn't have someone else in your corner!" Hurley then produced a handful of mercury credits from his pocket and began separating a few from the pile while silently counting. "So for a tank of plazma... that's twenty five credits on the nose, yeah?"

Completely taken aback, Lapis' jaw and plazma canister hit the floor. _'Whoa, hold on now: this guy's actually PAYING for my fuel?! Seriously?!'_ She didn't even know what to say about such a huge act of kindness. This... this wasn't some sort of trick or something, was it?

"Aw geez...yeah, yeah, twenty five credits buys you a can of plazma..." Plakkson sighed as he accepted the bundle of credits. "Always gotta play the hero, dontch'a Hurley?"

"Hey, it's just the decent thing to do. Nothing deeper than that." Hurley then turned to Lapis and flashed her a smile. "Alright Blue, the fuel's all yours! You have an  _excellent_ day now, you hear?"

"Alright then... uh... thanks!" Lapis awkwardly thanked Hurley before turning and walking away.

"You're welcome! Have a safe trip!"

Lapis stepped past the steel doors and into the entry chamber, where the cheerful rustic voice from earlier saw her off with a message. "Thank ya kindly for stoppin' by Dig-E's! Come again soon!" The doors opened, and while Lapis walked outside to her ship, she reflected on her earlier experience. 

 _'So that Hurley guy was willing to buy me some fuel during my time of need, without any strings attached? Well that was... rather nice of him.'_ The more she thought of it, the more she honestly felt touched by the gesture. Here she was, a foreigner in a strange land, and yet some random alien was willing to offer her a helping hand despite the lack of benefit for him. It wasn't unlike Steven saving her from the mirror, come to think of it...

 _'Well it's nice to know that there are decent people all the way out here.'_ Lapis thought to herself with a smile,  _'Maybe I'll have an easier time adjusting to life further out in space than I thought...'_

Having reached where she had "parked" her escape pod, Lapis opened up the cockpit and climbed inside with her can of fuel in hand. "Alright, now with that little snag taken care of? Time to get this show on the road for real..."

Lapis grabbed a little black notch embedded at the front of the container, pulled, and opened the canister. She then lifted it and tilted it over, and let the neon green liquid pour inside of the fuel tank. It didn't take long for the "Plazma" to completely fill up the tank, leaving the canister about a third full. Lapis closed the fuel tank with a satisfued grin, dropped the canister, then placed a hand on the blastoff button. She took one last look at Dig-E's for good measure, then pressed down and crossed her arms in a satisfied manner... until a notification popped up on the control panel:

"ERROR: INCOMPATIBLE FUEL SOURCE"

**(Silence)**

"...you're  _kidding_ me." Lapis could only stare dumbfoundedly at the control panel as that familiar error icon flashed in her face. She simply sat there for the remainder of the time that mocking error message flashed for (a few seconds), and once it dissipated, she continued to sit there in cold, tranquil fury.

"You're. KIDDING. Me."

Lapis' fists trembled, her teeth clenched, and she could feel her face warm up as her body language grew more intense by the second. A few hours ago, she was willing to shoulder the blame for not having enough fuel on hand... but to  _have_ fuel and have it be somehow incompatible with her ship? That was  _all_ Peridot's fault. And the more Lapis' thought about it? Considering the faulty engineering, perhaps she  _could_ blame Peridot for not leaving her any fuel!

After a few seconds of sitting with that and letting her rage boil, Lapis slammed a fist onto the control panel and cracked it, imagining that it was Peridot's face that she had punched. "THANKS FOR  _NOTHING,_ YOU SHRIEKING MIDGET!" she screamed as she hammered the panel again, cracking it even deeper, "It's going to take  _forever_ to get to the Nova Veluti System and it's ALL!"

She punctuated the word with another punch, cracking the panel further.

"YOUR!"

And another.

"FAULT!"

And another.

"YOU!"

And yet another.

"STUPID!"

Yep. Another.

"FREAKING!"

Does it even need to be said?

" **IDIOT!** "

Finishing her sentence, Lapis swung down on the panel with a final furious blow of her fist that completely shattered the screen, causing broken glass to fly all over the escape pod's seat like falling shrapnel. Her horribly aching fist resting on the smashed control panel, Lapis breathed heavily and grit her teeth in a deranged smile. She couldn't help herself: after its complete and utter refusal to accept the fuel it was given, it felt so  _cathartic_ to lash out at the stupid pod. 

Or at least, it originally did. Soon, her grin of satisfaction was replaced by a dead, numbed look of horror and steadily increasing feelings of regret when Lapis let the gravity of her actions truly sink in.

"Why did I do that?  _Why_ did I  _do_ that?!" Lapis then let out an anguished groan that could only be described as a "GAHHHHHHHHHHGH!" of self-hating fury as she smacked both hands over her face and hid it in shame. "Great, GREAT! Now this stupid thing is  _never_ going to work!" With another anguished groan, Lapis slumped back in her seat and stared down at the ground. So what would she do now? Ask for someone to repair her ship's control panel? But considering what it took just to get a canister of useless fuel, repair services would likely come at the cost of credits, and that was something that Lapis just didn't have.

 _'So I really am just gonna have to fly my way to the Nova Veluti System, won't I?'_ Lapis asked herself with a heavy sigh.  _'Yeah, glad to know that all I did was waste my time...'_ Lapis gave her head a shake and sighed again.  _'God, why can't I stop messing things up?!'_

It wasn't fun to accept, but it seemed that the path destiny itself Lapis wanted to take to a new life was going to be several centuries long whether she liked it or not. But as hard as it was to accept, Lapis didn't see any point in fighting it. She opened the cockpit and stepped back out into space. She placed her hands on her hips and glanced forlornly over at Dig-E's. ' _Well, looks like I wasted that guy's credits. A real shame, since he was nice enough to bother helping me out... But why didn't that fuel work anyway? I was certain that Homeworld tech ran on plasma...'_

**(Song: Undertale, sans.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1-RyLUQUrA)**

Lost in thought, Lapis' departure was delayed just long enough for a familiar face to cheerfully make his way out of Dig-E's, whistling a merry tune carrying not just one, but two containers of those "Tentacle Brew" drinks out with him: one under each arm. He was wearing a glass-like dome over his head that seemed to fold out from the collar of his jumpsuit, likely as a method to breath in space, though Lapis could hear him whistling loud and clear, if a tad muffled and tinny. Catching sight of her, he waved one of his arms around and yelled out, "Oh, hey Blue! Nice to see you again!"

"Oh!" Lapis called out as he ran up to her before stopping to cough a bit and catch his breath, "You are... Harley, right?"

"Nah, Hurley!" the fuzzy, bulky alien replied cheerfully.

"Oh, right..." Lapis chuckled, a bit embarrassed by her social faux-pas, "Sorry about that."

"Ha ha, no need to apologize, Blue!" Hurley chuckled jovially, "So, I take it you're all set up and ready to blast off?"

Lapis cringed and bit down on her teeth, a dark blue blush creeping into her cheeks.  _'Great. GREAT! Just great! Now he gets to see first hand that all he did was waste some credits on me! Gah...'_ "First off, the name's Lapis," Lapis corrected before a more apologetic tone crept into her voice, "And uh... about the fuel..."

"Huh?" Hurley asked, cocking a thick eyebrow, "Is something wrong? Oh geez, don't tell me I gave you the wrong kind, did I?"

 _'Right on the money, sheesh!'_ Lapis nodded shamefully and sighed, "I'm really, really sorry you had to waste credits on me... Hurley?"

"Yup!" Hurley confirmed proudly.

"Yeah, I'm sorry Hurley, but..." Lapis huffed angrily and glared daggers at her useless pod, "I have no idea what went wrong! This ship of mine obviously runs on plasma fuel, but when I poured it in, it wouldn't work for me! It just doesn't make sense!"

"Well golly," Hurley remarked with a whistle, "Now that's a doozy of a problem, isn't it?"

"Again, I'm  _so_ sorry you had to waste credits on me Hurley, it's just-"

"Hey now, Blue!" Hurley scolded Lapis playfully, without so much as a hint of malice in his voice, "You don't have to apologize for anything! Because lucky for you, I'm a mechanic! And figuring out why a machine's acting all screwy is a part of the job description! So let me give your ship a look-see, and I'll try to help you the best I can..."

So not only was this friendly stranger generous: he was handy with machines to boot! Lapis couldn't believe the weird twists and turns her luck had taken recently, but she decided to roll with it.

"Ah ha!" Hurley exclaimed as he stood back and crossed his arms, "Well Blue, I have yet to take a  _proper_ look, but I think I can say with  _certainty_ that I've diagnosed one of your ship's big problems!"

"Oh? And that is...?"

"Your control panel, it's all screwed up! Some hooligan punched it in and got broken glass over the place!" 

 _'GACK!'_ Lapis visibly cringed, having just remembered that she did nothing to tidy up the aftermath of her temper tantrum earlier. And now here she was, with egg on her face in front of this stranger she had just met.

"Sheesh, Blue, the nerve of some people!" Hurley ranted as he scanned the horizon, his gaze steely and his brows furled, "I tell you, that vandal better hope I don't find him, 'cause when I do we'll see how  _he_ likes getting his face smashed-"

**(Song: Super Mario Galaxy, Space Fantasy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5E1ep0qHQ8 &t=10s)**

"Hurley, stop! No one got in and wrecked it! It was..." Lapis' cheeks went dark navy as she awkwardly gripped onto her right arm and looked down at the ground in shame, "It was me. I lost my temper when the fuel didn't work and... well, you can see for yourself."

"Ah, I see... GOOD! Ha ha, that's really good then: no one's out to sabotage you!" Hurley chortled triumphantly.

"Ha ha, yeah. I guess that  _is_  a good thing..." Lapis awkwardly laughed along.

"Hmm, but that still leaves a huge question: if the control panel was smashed after it messed up, then what's wrong with the ship? Pre-tty curious, I tell ya." Hurley whistled. He put a pensive, stubby thing to his chin and reflected on the situation until a figurative light turned on in his brain. "Now Blue, are you  _sure_ that this baby runs on plazma? Are you  _positive?_ "

"Well, yeah!" Lapis answered indignantly, "I took a quick look at the fuel in the tank before it was empty, and there was a tiny bit of plasma in there! It was light green and everything!"

"Light green fuel, huh..." After taking a few seconds to think, he let out a gasp as his eyes bulged in surprise. "Hold on there a sec there, Blue: you said it was light green, right?"

"I thought I made that clear, yeah."

"Well now, this is an important question: by light green, what shade are we talking about? Green like the color of my skin, or green as in the fuel that's in the tank right now?"

"It was a seafoam green like your skin."

"Aha! A- _HA_!" Hurley announced while raising a triumphant pointer finger to the sky, "Well now, looks like I've figured it all out! You, my friend, were using  _plasma_ instead of  _plazma!_ "

**(Song: Ace Attorney Dual Destinies, Noisy People: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NowHPcWs7so)**

Having solved the mystery, Hurley crossed his arms and chuckled jovially while Lapis just sat there and stared at him in confusion. "Uh... I don't think I follow. What are you talking about, exactly?"

Hurley stopped laughing, his friendly smile instantly replaced with a look of concern. "Oh... OH! They must not have plazma back home, huh?"

 _'Define home,'_  Lapis thought to herself as Hurley began his explanation.

"You see Blue, there's plasma with an 'S', and plazma with a 'Z'. Their names are REALLY similar, and they're both a light green, but that's pretty much where their similarities end! You're talking two fuels with completely different physical properties, completely different energy output, completely different textures, completely different shades of green! You see where I'm going with this, yeah?"

Lapis' response was an anguished groan of "AAAAAAAAAAAGH!" as she slumped back in the seat and smacked a palm to her face. "Gah, I'm so STUPID! I should have realized that something was off when the fuel I got was a totally different shade from what was in the tank!"

"Oh, don't be so down on yourself, Blue! Considering they're one letter away from having the same name, it's pretty easy to confuse plasma with plazma!" Hurley gave a good-natured chuckle before frowning and placing a thoughtful hand to his chin. "Kinda makes you wonder why they'd go with that name in the first place. Riddle for the ages, huh Blue?"

**(Song: Super Mario Galaxy, Space Fantasy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5E1ep0qHQ8 &t)**

"Yeah, yeah..." Lapis sighed as she blankly stared out at the dazzling stars above the parking lot. "So now what do I do? I suppose we could go in and grab some plasma, but even if we did the control panel's busted."

"Nah, even if it still worked we'd still be out of luck: since plazma's a cleaner burning, more energy efficient fuel, lots of places began cycling out plasma in favor of the new stuff. Dig-E's stopped carrying it 'bout a year ago." Hurley corrected, "But hey, no need to get pouty now, you hear?"

"Yeah, but what else can I do? I wrecked the panel, my ship isn't compatible with the local fuel... I mean, I can just fly through space to my destination I guess, but-"

"Pfft, fly? On MY watch? You've gotta be kidding, Blue!" Hurley responded with a laugh, "I'm not just going to sit around and abandon a civilian in need! We're already on the outskirts and since I live there, I'm totally okay with you hitching a ride with me over to Nova Veluti! My ship's got plenty of room for passengers, you know!"

Hurley then pointed at a somewhat bulky, rectangular vehicle parked close by, which somewhat resembled the vehicle called a van that Steven's "dad" drove, only quite a bit bigger. It was painted a brilliant, crisp white, and had colorful drawings of strange, tentacley, many-eyed aliens and monsters decorating the sides. Very flashy, if a bit gaudy for Lapis' tastes.

Lapis' eyes widened considerably. "Wait, you're really okay with just flying me to where I need to go? Even after I wasted your credits with that can of plazma?"

"Sure I am! I've bussed around plenty of hitchhikers and drifters over the years, what's one more, huh?" Hurley replied as he firmly clasped his enormous hand over Lapis' head and ruffled her hair, causing her to squirm and irately push it away.

"Hey, cut it out!" she growled as Hurley chuckled and put his arm down as ordered. But while she straightened her tousled hair back into place, Lapis couldn't help but smile softly at him. "But thanks again!"

"Heh heh, no problem Blue! I'm always happy to pitch in when someone's in need!" Hurley then hopped out past the cockpit and back on the parking lot, then pointed once again at his transport. "Alright then: if you'll make your way up to my ship, I'm gonna haul your spacecraft on board and fly us to my garage back home! Once we get there, I'll see if I can get her up and running for ya! And after that, I say we take a little whirlwind tour across the Galaxy and see if we can find you a place to stay! You like how that sounds?"

"Yeah!" Lapis nodded emphatically, unable to argue against Hurley's generous offer.

 "Alrighty then..." Hurley turned back around to the pod, stretched his arms upward, and popped his knuckles by pressing his hands together. He then scooped his arms under the pod, and in a display of superhuman strength that caught Lapis off guard, hoisted it over his head. "Let's go! The cosmos await us, my girl!"

Lapis followed Hurley, who moved at exactly the same brisk pace he was going earlier, seemingly unhindered by the pod's weight. Still surprised by how  _strong_ this soft-looking alien was, Lapis could only wonder what other amazing things she would see that defy expectations...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha. Ha ha! HA HA HA HA HA! To the people following this, I bet you all thought that this fic was dead, huh? Well reports of its death were greatly exaggerated...
> 
> Alright, seriously though: I am REALLY sorry for how long this update took. Part of it was me being distracted by video games and other important things, part of it was me feeling really burned out and disenfranchised with Steven Universe lately, and another part of it was me simply doing a LOT of rewrites for this chapter. But at long last it's done, and more are on the way!
> 
> So this was a very fun chapter for me: I got to introduce some alien species, and introduce one of my favorite characters in this story: Hurley! He's an alien known as a Queasian, a species of aliens that are incredibly strong, yet suffer from horrible motion sickness. And yeah, he and his kind were inspired directly by the Mr. Queasy doll from Cheeseburger Backpack. I loved Mr. Queasy so much, I thought "Why not base an alien race off of him?" And thus, Hurley. For a bit of dumb trivia, while writing I read his dialogue in John Goodman's voice, ha ha.
> 
> And Plakkson's alien species is based off of the Hopkinsville Goblin, a somewhat obscure cryptid that I always thought was really neat. Not gonna spill all the beans yet, but in the chapters to come I am unashamed to admit that his species indulges in one of my favorite tropes of all time. You'll see what I mean soon enough. ;)
> 
> Alright, enough circlejerking about my own work. To the past readers and ones reading this in the present, I really hope you enjoyed what I've written so far. Stay tuned for more!
> 
> Chapter Name Trivia: The title of this chapter is taken from the Beatles song Help! I chose it since quite obviously, Lapis is in need of help due to running out of fuel. 'Nuff said, kids. Enough said. :p


End file.
